


The Last Skywalker (Anisoka theory)

by Quacksonfish48



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Star Wars Setting, Anakin Skywalker Doesn't Turn to the Dark Side, Anakin/ahsoka theory, Anisoka, Post-Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, Time Travel Fix-It, World Between Worlds, anakin and ahsoka had a baby by accident, human/togrutan hybrid, pregnant Ahsoka Tano
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-29
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-06 03:08:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 34,847
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25596307
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quacksonfish48/pseuds/Quacksonfish48
Summary: Rey has defeated Sidious and the first order has fallen, but not long after, Rey, Poe, and Finn are thrown into another adventure. They discover the descendent of Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano. Sokka, the descendant of Anakin and Ahsoka, attempts to fix everything and stop billions from suffering by reopening the door to the world between worlds, and Rey, Poe, and Finn come along for the ride.This is a mix of a theory of mine that Anakin got a little closer than friends with Ahsoka at one point during the Clone Wars and a pure fanfic idea of time travel fix it through the world between worlds.
Relationships: Anakin Skywalker/Ahsoka Tano
Comments: 88
Kudos: 84





	1. The Discovery

**Author's Note:**

> I give credit of Ashla to Jairyn.

“I would never let anyone hurt you-“  
“Take heart little one.”  
“Why did you leave?”  
“There’s always hope!”  
“Do you know-“  
“I won’t leave you!”  
“You would have never made it as Obi Wan’s padawan, but you might just make it as mine.”  
“I’m sorry master, but I’m not coming back.”  
“-what I’ve become.”  
“Not this time.”  
“I understand wanting to walk away.”  
“I promise.”  
“Then you will die.”  
Rey snapped awake, panting and covered in sweat. Who were those voices coming from, and what did they mean? And why was she hearing them? She needed her masters.  
Rey pulled the sweaty covers off and sat up in bed. Sunshine leaked through the windows and spilled out into her room, washing over her like a cool, refreshing shower. She threw on clothes and walked outside. Nature was her quiet place. It kept her head level, and she could always find her most beneficial and peaceful meditations there. She walked a ways off into the woods and sat down under a tree in cross legged position and closed her eyes.  
“Be with me,” she muttered under her breath and slipped into a deep meditative state. She didn’t even feel her body lift from the ground or notice the objects around her begin to move off the ground with her and around her.  
“Be with me,” she muttered again. She opened her mind to the birds that chirped in the sky, the crisp air around her, the rustling of the leaves in the wind.  
“Be with me,” she said for the third time. This time she heard her name.  
“Rey.” She peeled her eyes open.  
There, her two masters stood. Luke and Leia. Their faces twisted into smiles as she came back to the ground and dropped the objects around her.  
“Masters,” she said while beaming up at them. Visits from her masters were always an unexpected treat that she would never pass up on, as they had become one with the force a while back.  
“This is very important Rey. You must listen carefully,” Leia said while wiping the smile off her face and growing serious.  
“Those voices you heard came from a long time ago. They came from before you were even born,” Luke told her.  
“What do they mean?” She asked intently. The memory of the voices came back in her head. Some words uttered sounded so hopeful and full of good intent while others sounded full of pain, heartache, and regret. It made her skin crawl at the intensity of some of the words spoken.  
“You must go see Maz Kanata. She will have the information you need. Just ask her about a someone named Ashla, and she will guide you,” Luke told her with a very serious look on his face. His face was always very serious or cranky, but this time he looked even more focused and intense than Rey had ever seen him.  
“Good luck Rey. May the force be with you, always,” Leia said, and the twins began to fade away.  
“Wait! Don’t go!” She screamed at them, but they had already vanished, leaving nothing but empty air behind.  
“Rey!” She snapped her eyes open and hit the ground hard. Everything she had been levitating around her fell to the ground instantly. Finn and Poe stood in front of her looking very concerned and fearful.  
“Rey! What happened?!” Finn asked in a panic.  
“I was mediating and Luke and Leia came and spoke to me. Something urgent is happening. Luke said I must go see Maz Katana,” she told him quickly. She began to hastily walk back to her little hut to gather her things for the journey, but Poe and Finn ran in front of Rey to stop her from going anywhere.  
“What are you talking about?” Poe asked with his brows furrowed in frustrated confusion.  
“They did not tell me much, but I heard these voices in a dream. I don’t know what they meant, but Luke told me Maz Katana would have information for me. He also told me to ask her about someone named Ashla.”  
“Ashla? Doesn’t that mean light?” Finn asked.  
“I guess. What does it matter though?” She asked him. She needed to hurry because the force around her was practically screaming how urgent the situation was.  
“I don’t know,” Finn shrugged. Rey didn’t have time for this, and she took off in a run back to the hut. Her ears were pounding with the intensity of the force around her. Whatever was going on, she needed to get there and quickly. Finn and Poe glanced at eachother worriedly and took off after Rey.  
“Rey wait! We’ll help you!”  
“Well you better hurry!” She shouted at them as she ran. She reached the hut and hurriedly rummaged through things. She grabbed a few items and took off toward the Flacon. Poe and Finn ran into the Millennium Falcon with her, and they got the ship on and in the air as fast as they possibly could. Poe and Finn had no idea why they were in such a hurry, but Rey made it obvious that they needed to get a move on. Rey punched coordinates into the hyperdrive and they shot through space.  
She immediately slumped back into her chair after they took off.  
“What’s the rush all about?” Poe asked her while breathing heavily.  
“I have a feeling that whatever is going on is very urgent. We need to get information as soon as we can,” she replied casually.  
“Great. Another day of saving the universe,” Poe said with an eye roll. Rey rolled her eyes at him in return.  
Since the defeat of Sidious and the first order, the three of them had been living off on their own. Rey had started training Finn to become a Jedi, and Poe had simply insisted that he wanted to them to stick together.  
“Do you think we could do some training before we get to Maz Katana’s place?” Finn asked Rey. Rey honestly did not feel like training since her nerves were going off the walls already.  
“We should mediate instead.” Finn grouched but sat down on the floor in cross legged position as Rey did the same.  
“I’m just going to be watching the ship,” Poe said awkwardly, as he didn’t mediate and wasn’t force sensitive like they were.  
Rey and Finn slipped into a meditative state. This was her second mediation of the day. It was just one of those days, but luckily, this mediation had no visions.  
~~~  
Rey felt through her mediation that they were arriving at Maz Katana’s, so she slowly stirred and got up from the floor. Finn followed her and they walked up to the front of the ship and saw Maz’s new castle. The last one had been destroyed when the first order attacked, so she had a new one built after the downfall of the first order. It was built quickly, and this castle was not quite as big, but it was still extravagant and made your mouth drop when you saw it. The amount of green surrounding it always made Rey get teary eyed, and as she took a look at the planet, she had to take a few deep breaths to keep the tears at bay.  
The group landed and was greeted by an overjoyed Chewbacca. He roared in happy surprise and gave the three of them bone crushing hugs - almost literally. R2 and C3PO greeted them happily as well, and behind them stood Maz Katana. Rey would have caught up with them a little first, but she was in a hurry.  
“Maz. We have come for information. Luke told me you would know what to tell me, and he told me to bring up the name . . . Ashla.”  
Maz’s eyes squinted a little, and she sighed and turned around with a hand wave, beckoning them to follow her. Rey hurried off behind Maz, and Poe and Finn were right behind her after giving each other a worried look.  
They followed her through her crowded castle, and they went down into the basement. It was similar to the one where Rey found Luke’s lightsaber, and it gave her shivers as she remember the visions. They kept walking until they came upon a little chest with a small wooden box on top of it. It was the box that had contained Luke’s lightsaber. Rey did not want to touch it again, for the last time she had been thrown into those disturbing visions.  
“That lightsaber that I gave you once belonged to Luke, but before Luke, it belonged to his father,” Maz told Rey. Finn and Poe tensed up. They were not fond of Luke’s father regardless of whether or not he returned to the light side in the end or not.  
Maz Katana continued, “Anakin Skywalker. The chosen one. He had a padawan, and her name was Ahsoka Tano.” She opened the box which no longer contained the lightsaber but held a few other little things. Maz delicately picked up a little strand of beads and held it out to Rey.  
“Go go to Lothal, and you will find the person you seek. Give this to them. It will show them you have good intentions,” Maz said while sadly smiling as Rey slowly moved her hand toward the beads. As soon as she touched it, she heard those voices from her dream again except this time she saw them play out. She saw a man who looked very similar to Luke, she assumed it was Anakin Skywalker, and a girl. The girl was a togrutan. Rey saw the two fight side by side, him place his hand on her shoulder, her leave in tears while he stared after her with a very hurt expression on his face, and she saw him promising to never let anyone hurt her. Then she saw the togrutan girl again, but she was no longer a teenager. She had cut his mask and told him she would not leave him again. He hesitated for a moment, but then, told her, she would die. But this time, there was a new voice. It was a woman screaming and crying.  
She gasped and frantically looked around the room. There was just her two friends and Maz Katana. Poe and Finn looked at her with wide, fearful eyes, but Maz Katana simply nodded her head.  
“What was that?” Rey asked her in fear.  
“The memories of Ahsoka Tano. Go. Go to Lothal before it is too late.”  
“Too late for what?!” Rey asked desperately in need of information nobody seemed to be willing to give her.  
“You will find out. I am not the person to tell you what you want to know,” Maz said wisely as she pushed them back out of her castle.  
They left the castle in a rushed confusion, and took off for Lothal, almost without a thought.  
“What was that all about?!” Poe asked loudly in a desperate confused state.  
“What did you see when you touched . . . that?” He asked with an eyebrow raised as he pointed a finger toward the beads she still had clutched protectively in her hand.  
“It was of Anakin Skywalker and his padawan. It showed me her memories. They were so pain filled. It was like I could feel her heartache through the beads. It started out with their training together and their battles in the war, but then it changed to her leaving him and then . . . to her fighting him when - when he was Vader. But he hesitated. He didn’t want to hurt her, but -“ she couldn’t continue. It might have been because she was still holding onto the beads or maybe just because it was so sad, but she wanted to cry thinking of their battle.  
“Vader . . . hesitating . . . That’s something I’ve never heard of in the stories about him,” Poe said with a disbelieving laugh.  
She didn’t respond. She just sat their looking down at the beads. What did this Ashla have to do with anything? Why was the force making her feel so rushed? Why did these memories of people she had never met make her heart hurt so badly. Rey just wanted to curl into a ball and hide. Everything was so confusing.  
Nobody talked for the rest of the way to Lothal. They just sat their in their thoughts.  
~~~  
“It’s Lothal!” Poe shouted excitedly. He was growing tired of the silence. He had no clue why Rey was so upset by those memories and why Finn was being quiet as well, but he was happy to be getting some action again. He was getting kind of interested in this. It was like solving a mystery.  
They landed and went walking around the bustling city of Lothal.  
“Where do we go?” Finn asked Rey. She didn’t respond. She just closed her eyes and breathed.  
Be with me.  
She felt the force almost nudge her. She began walking. Rey had no idea where she was going, but she trusted the force that it knew the way. Poe and Finn followed her like confused children following their mother around a grocery store and waited for her to say something. They walked through the crowded city for a long time, and they kept trudging on even after they had left the city behind them. It was getting dark outside, and the temperature was dropping causing them to get shivers up their spines and goose bumps all over their skin. The three walked on for what felt like hours, and it seemed as if their was nothing in sight for miles.  
Then Rey stopped.  
“What is it?” Poe asked her. She didn’t respond. She closed her eyes again and reached out with the force. There were several things coming. Fast.  
All the sudden they were surrounded by Lothe wolves that barred their teeth and growled at them hungrily. They dug their claws into the ground and dug up dirt as if preparing to charge any moment.  
Finn ignited his lightsaber he had just recently gotten and prepared for attack, and Poe got out his blaster and was prepared to shoot.  
“Don’t! Put those away!” Rey shouted at the two men.  
“Why!? Do you want to become dinner!?” Poe shouted frantically while not taking his eyes off the wolves that surrounded them.  
“They aren’t going to hurt us!” She said more quietly this time. She had no clue why, but she knew they were not there to hurt them. She put out her hand. The biggest wolf growled as she moved her hand out to it, but it did not attack. She kept moving closer until she laid her hand onto the snout of the wolf. She closed her eyes and connected to it with the force. The wolf stopped growling, and as a result, the rest of the wolves stopped and stood still.  
The lead wolf then spoke, “Dume.” Rey looked at it in confusion. Why would it be saying doom? Were they doomed?  
It said it again, and then it made a beckoning motion with it’s large head. She climbed onto the wolf’s back. Two other wolves then forcefully got Poe and Finn onto of their backs, much to their disliking, and the pack took off. They ran through the dark night as fast a blaster shot. Finn yelped in surprise to the sudden speed and clutched the wolf he was on tighter. They then entered some sort of hyperspace, and voices echoed all around them.  
“I saved you, so I can save Kanan too!”  
“You couldn’t save your master, and I couldn’t save mine.”  
“Anakin! Good luck.”  
“The council is asking you back. I’m asking you back.”  
“I have to figure this out. Without the council. And without you.”  
They came out of the weird hyperspace, and the voices stopped. The wolves came to a stop at a cave.  
“Did you guys hear that?!” Finn asked in a hushed but frantic voice.  
“Yeah, could you make any of it out?” Poe replied in confusion. He couldn’t tell what any of it meant or what it was saying.  
“I caught a few lines. I heard Anakin good luck and something about saving someone. Oh! I also heard without you. Any idea what that means?”  
“Shhhhhh” Rey was trying to concentrate after hoping off the wolf. She reached out with the force and felt for something. She didn’t know what that something was, but she felt that she would find out soon.  
“Someone is in there!” She exclaimed quietly, and motioned for them to follow her into the cave after Poe and Finn had gotten off of the wolves.  
The lead wolf then spoke up again, “Dume’s.”  
“Dooms?” Poe repeated in confusion.  
“Oh great! Now we are doomed twice,” Finn said sarcastically while throwing his hands up.  
“No. I think he is talking about something belonging to... Doom?” Rey said in more of a question than a statement.  
The wolf nodded. It then turned and ran off, followed by the rest of it’s pack.  
Rey just glanced at Poe and Finn in confusion at all that has just happened and then shrugged. She was getting used to things being extremely weird.  
They cautiously walked into the cave, their senses on high alert. It was cold, damp, and very dark. It was also quiet. Too quiet.  
As they continued to walk, they finally saw something. It was light, and they slowly walked towards it hoping that whatever it was was on their side - whatever that meant.  
They kept inching closer, and Rey and Finn felt it. It was a person, and they were filled with conflicting emotions. They made out the back of the person. It was a woman who looked to be around her 20’s. She had light brown hair that was so light it could have been a very dirty blond. She was very lean and slender yet muscular at the same time, and she wore armor with two lightsabers hanging by her side.  
Rey felt the beads pulse in her hand. This had to be Ahshla.  
“Ashla?”  
She turned her head around. She had had brilliant blue eyes and togrutan markings covering her tan face. She was a hybrid. Rey had seen both Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano in her visions, and this girl looked like the perfect mix between the two of them.


	2. Destiny

“Ashla?”  
The hybrid girl’s face hardened. “Who are you and how do you know that name?”  
Rey slowly held out her hand and curled her fingers out of a fist to reveal the little padawan braid on her palm. The girl who Rey assumed was Ashla looked shocked, and her eyes widened as she looked over the padawan braid in awe.  
“My name is Rey, and the force has been calling me to you.” The mysterious girl regained her strong composure once again but was visibly more comfortable with their presence.  
“How did you get that?” She asked with a strong voice, yet it slightly wavered as she gazed at the beads in longing.  
“I got it from a lady named Maz Katana. It was in a box that used to contain Anakin Skywalker’s lightsaber. I had visions about Anakin and his padawan, Ahsoka Tano . . . are you their daughter? Ashla?”  
This made the girl raise an eyebrow slightly.  
She stared at them for a few moments as if deciding whether or not she was going to answer and then replied, “Ashla is my mother . . .” she hesitated slightly but then said, “Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano are my grandparents. I’m Sokka.”  
Poe and Finn who hadn’t spoken once just stood behind Rey with their mouths hanging open. They hadn’t seen the visions, so they didn’t realize what Rey had understood when the girl first turned around.  
“Wait, but Luke and Leia aren’t hybrids, are they?” Poe asked in confusion. Could Anakin Skywalker have had children with someone else at some point in time?  
“No. They aren’t,” Sokka said bitterly. She had a look of distaste on her tongue as she said this. This was clearly not her favorite subject to talk about.  
Poe began to speak, but Sokka gave him a death stare to drop the subject. The subject, however, wasn’t dropped so easily.  
“That’s why her beads were in the box with his lightsaber! Oh! And that’s also why Rey said in her visions he didn’t want to hurt her and hesitated!” Finn said excitedly after finally putting the pieces together. Rey carefully watched Sokka’s mood change from bitter and slightly angry to one of longing sadness.  
Rey didn’t know how to comfort her, but she knew that she needed to change the subject and quickly. “So why do you think the force was calling us to you?” Sokka let out a breath and then shot her a look of gratitude. Her face then suddenly lit up as she had a moment of realization that the others were not having.  
“The force must have sent you here to help me! It has to be a sign that I am doing the right thing!” She muttered with a wide smile on her face and then turned around and started running through the cave. The others had no clue what was going on and ran after her in confusion.  
“Wait, what are you talking about?” Rey shouted after her as they ran through the tunnels only slightly illuminated by an occasional dimly lit torch. Sokka never answered but continued to run excitedly through the tunnels until stopping at a wall with an old painting on it. The painting was of three god like people. There was an old man in the middle, a very pure, light filled woman to his left, and a dark, Sith looking man to his right. Sokka then started pointing at the painting with a joyful sparkle in her eyes as she smiled at Rey, Poe, and Finn.  
“After the fall of the new Jedi order, I went into hiding with an old friend of my mother’s. He is a Jedi who fought with the rebellion during the days of the Empire, and he once saved my grandmother’s life through this,” She gestured towards the wall again with a gleeful expression on her face. “It opened up a doorway into this world between worlds place and allowed him to go between time and space. He then was able to pull Ahsoka out of her time right before Vader killed her,” Her face darkened at these last words and she added, “My grandmother sacrificed herself in that moment to save him from the collapsing temple, but fate was not going to let her die, not yet at least.”  
Rey, Poe, and Finn stared at her with wide eyes and mouths open. They had seen a lot of crazy stuff, but this was probably one of the most bizarre things they had ever heard. Time travel wasn’t supposed to be possible.  
“Wait, so what are you suggesting?” Rey asked carefully. She didn’t like how excited Sokka was about this, and how she had said they must have been sent there to help her. Time travel could be really dangerous and risky, especially when everything had finally been resolved in this time.  
“For the past few years since my mom died -“ she paused briefly in a dark silence and then solemnly added, “Sidious had her killed so she wouldn’t get in the way of the rising first order, but he didn’t know about me.” She got a dark look on her face until she remembered what she was talking about. It was like a dark cloud had just passed over her and then quickly evaporated, leaving behind a joyful aurora of light behind.  
“Anyway, since then, I have been working on reopening the doorway. Ezra, the Jedi I was talking about, had closed it a long time ago after having saved my grandmother in order to stop Sidious from getting control of it, but now that Sidious is gone for good, I thought I might try opening it again,” she said with child like enthusiasm. Rey began to get more worried by the second. This didn’t sound like the best idea. Finn and Poe, however, looked almost as excited as Sokka was.  
“So you are saying we can travel through time!?” Finn asked her in awe.  
“Exactly! We can stop everything from happening! We can stop my grandfather from falling, and we can stop the Jedi purges from ever happening. Of course, we would have to talk some since into the order, but we could stop so much pain and suffering! We could help my grandfather bring balance to the force without all that crap happening!” She exclaimed with a little bounce as she told them her idea. All the dark energy that had surrounded her earlier when they had been on the subject of her and her family had passed completely and she became as happy as a kid in a candy store. Rey, however, did not share this excitement. “Are you sure about this? This could be very risking. I mean, what if you ended up screwing things up even more? What if you stopped your mother, which would also mean you, from every being born?” Rey asked worriedly.  
Sokka shrugged her shoulders. “Well, I wouldn’t mind not being born, and I doubt my mom would either. She never admitted it, but I could tell she always felt like she was just some mistake that only ever caused problems. She didn’t have the best life after the fall of the Republic. Her father never even knew she existed, and she rarely got to see her mother until after the Empire had fallen because it was dangerous to be force sensitive in those days. She was constantly in hiding,” Sokka said with a faraway look on her face but then snapped back and casually said, “And for screwing things up more, I just won’t.”  
Poe and Finn’s excited looks had faded away, and they looked at each other with sad and worried glances on their faces. Rey wasn’t sure what to think after this. The girl clearly hadn’t had as good as a life as Luke and Leia, but that didn’t mean she could go back in time and possibly mess everything up, regardless of how confident she was.  
Before anyone could respond to Sokka, a voice came from one of the tunnels. “So you’re the Jedi that brought back the balance to the force?”  
Rey looked in the direction the voice had come from and saw an old man standing in the passageway of one of the tunnels. He was wrinkled from years of war and had long hair and a beard that went down to his chest. He was clearly old, but he looked relatively fit and able to get around better than most elderly people. His eyes spoke of horrors that he had seen throughout his life that he could never forget and also of the wisdom that radiated off of him in waves. It wasn’t like being around her masters, but he had clearly seen far too much horror and pain throughout his lifetime than one should.  
“My name is Rey. Are you the Jedi Sokka was talking about? Ezra?”  
“Yes. My name is Ezra Bridger. Thank you for what you did for the galaxy, but if you don’t mind, I must speak with Sokka alone.” They got the hint and let Ezra and Sokka walk off through another tunnel and waited for their return.  
“Sokka, I have already told you that traveling through time is too dangerous.”  
“But I feel it through the force! It’s telling me to do this! Can’t you understand!?” Sokka yelled at her old friend quietly but angrily so the newcomers didn’t hear.  
“Trust me, Sokka. I understand. Your grandmother taught me that lesson. When I was in the world between worlds I thought the force had sent me there not only to save her but to save my master. If I took him out of that moment, it would have killed me and the rest of our crew, and we would have never completed our mission. I will never forget what she told me. ‘She couldn’t save her master and neither could I’. I had to let him go,” Ezra wisely told her while sadly glaring over her shoulder at nothing in particular. His master and so many others had become one with the force. He was the only one left from his old crew, for whatever reason.  
“But Ezra, you don’t understand. I’m not struggling to let someone go or just trying to save one person. I’m trying to save billions!” Sokka wished he could just understand that she had to do this.  
“I know it is more than that.” She glared at him with a stony face. “You are not a good for nothing mistake. Your grandmother loved your grandfather, and he loved her, but it was not destined for them to be together.”  
“Then it was destiny for them to have my mother who had me who is going to fix everything!” She was getting tears in her eyes which she fought back with difficulty.  
“Sokka -“  
“No! Can’t you understand that this is what I’m meant to do!? You can’t stop me.” She said with the tears finally winning the fight and spilling out onto her rosy cheeks.  
“I know I can’t. You have too much of your mother in you. And your grandmother. That doesn’t mean I’m not going to try to talk you out of it,” he said with the saddest smile Sokka had ever seen. She gave him a watery smile in return. He let out a chuckle at her sad smile and said with another laugh, “Just don’t do anything that would cause me not to be born.”  
She began to walk back to Rey, Poe, and Finn, but Ezra called out, “And you aren’t just a mistake, Sokka. I’m sure your grandfather wishes he could have met you, and you have also been a good friend since the fall of the new order, and I wouldn’t have had it any other way. And neither would your mother - or grandmother. May the force by with you, Sokka.” She gave him one last smile and walked away. There was a strange feeling in the force as she walked away. She didn’t realize it then, but that would be the last time she saw him before he became one with the force, finally at peace.


	3. The world between worlds

Sokka quickly wiped the tears of her face and pulled herself together as she walked back to the newcomers. She heard them whispering to each other frantically but couldn’t hear what they were saying, and as soon as she walked back into the room, they immediately stopped talking and snapped to attention. Sokka raised an eyebrow.  
“We were just discussing . . . time travel,” The man with the chocolate colored hair said nervously.  
“Could you hear anything we were saying?” Sokka asked warily while ignoring him. She didn’t want them to have heard her mini break down.  
Rey hesitated and thought for a moment until she said, “We heard some screaming . . . but don’t worry, we couldn’t make out what you were saying.” That made Sokka uneasy.  
“So does your old Jedi friend not want us time traveling?” The brunette man asked with an anxious yet smug look on his face.  
“He isn’t a fan of it, but he isn’t going to stop me,” she shrugged while carefully shielding her irritation behind a casual expression.  
“You mean us?” The other man asked, earning an angry glance from Rey.  
“You really want to help me?! Wait what are your names? I’m afraid I only got your name,” Sokka asked while pointing to Rey. She was doing her best to contain her excitement, but she was very happy to hear that they wanted to join her. She spent most of her life practically in solitude except for a few people like Ezra and her mother.  
“This is Poe,” Rey told her while pointing to the brunette man, “and this is Finn,” she said while pointing to the man on her left who appeared to be a Jedi because of the lightsaber clipped to his belt and the force that buzzed around him. He didn’t seem like he was too far along in training, though, because his force signature was all over the place and not very controlled.  
“So you are going to help me?” She asked them again with both eyebrows raised in hopefully joy.  
“We were just deciding that . . .” Rey told her with a frustrated scowl on her face as she eyed Finn again. This made her heart drop slightly. Looks like she would be on her own again.  
Finn spoke up, “I think we should.” He shot looks of annoyance back at his friends, and Sokka felt the frustration stir in the force around them.  
“We can’t just change the past. If you haven’t noticed, we are finally at peace,” Rey huffed back at him in annoyance.  
“But we could still bring peace without all of the suffering that came with it!” Finn retorted with his voice raising slightly.  
“But if we did something slightly off, so many things could go wrong,” Poe, the non-force sensitive man said. He seemed so excited about the idea of time travel earlier, but his worries were obviously getting to him.  
“I thought you said the force was calling you guys to me, so shouldn’t that mean you were supposed to help me?” Sokka asked, sliding into the argument. The force hummed as irritation coursed through the groups’ veins. As she said this, she felt the force almost nod it’s agreement to her statement, but Rey clearly didn’t notice it.  
“What if it sent us here to stop you?” She asked while crossing her arms and looking her directly in the eyes.  
“Can you not feel it? The force wants me to do this?” Sokka begged with her. She desperately wanted people in her life because this could be her last moments of it if she happened to accidentally cause her mom to never be born.  
“Something is happening!” Finn suddenly said frantically while spinning his head around in search for whatever was causing the disturbance. Sokka and Rey felt it too and braced themselves.  
The gods in the painting started to move as they almost beckoned them to follow something.  
Sokka gasped as she realized what was going on. “It’s opening!”  
The other three looking at her with wide eyes, but they quickly looked back to the painting as they saw the gods wave their hands to the right. Wolves started to run along the walls in the direction the hands were pointing. They were giving them a path.  
“Follow me!” Sokka told them while turning serious. Excitement was bubbling inside of her, but she needed to be calm and rational because things could turn south real quick when dealing with time travel.  
Rey and Poe glanced nervously at each other while Finn ran after Sokka, but they eventually gave in and ran through the twisty cave system to follow the wolves.  
Sokka ran after the 2-D wolves, and they ran deep into the cave until they led her to a humongous opening. It looked very old and worn out, and the force inside it felt almost ancient. As Rey, Poe, and Finn filled in behind her, Sokka walked up to the wall where the wolves had begun to form a circle.  
“What are they doing?” Finn asked with wonder and confusion leaking out of his tone.  
“They are forming the doorway,” Sokka said with a smile appearing on her face. She couldn’t help but let some of her excitement bleed out. She had heard stories of the world between worlds from Ezra so many times, and it was all finally coming to life for her. “Follow me.” She walked straight through the wall where the wolves made a circle, falling into a strange black world. It was like one big void of space with little clear pathways circling all over the place. Random doorways were scattered around everywhere you looked, and faint whispers came at you in every which way.  
“Oof!” Finn came toppling in behind Sokka and almost landed on top of her. He was about to apologize when Poe and Rey came falling through, successfully knocking him over and causing him to stop what he was about to say.  
“Ugh get off of me!” Rey said as Poe rolled off. He was about to say something snarky back until he got a glimpse of his surroundings.  
“Wow! What is this place?!” He asked in awe.  
“It’s some world between worlds. It’s a place between time and space,” Sokka responded while going back to starring at her surroundings.  
“You knew my father?” A voice said quietly. It seemed to have come from every direction as the group turned their heads around in confusion.  
“Master Luke?” Rey asked in hope as she titled her head around.  
“That sounded like a really young version of Luke,” Poe said with a laugh, but the humor was quickly stifled out when more voices came.  
“Are you an angle?”  
“A padawan would just slow me down.”  
“I hate you!”  
The group blinked in confusion.  
“Where are those voices coming from?!” Finn asked while beginning to walk down the pathway.  
“From different times I guess,” Sokka said while shrugging. She was trying to act calm and cool, but in reality, she was about to jump out of her skin in excitement.  
“What do we do?” Rey asked as more voices started whispering in their ears.  
“Well we need to go through one of those doorways, but I’m not sure which to go through,” she replied.  
“Do we even know the right time period we need to enter?” Finn asked Sokka while continuing to walk down the pathways. She honestly hadn’t thought about that part. She wasn’t sure if she should come after her mom was conceived or not, but she definitely knew she needed to go to a time before her grandfather got the suit.  
“Umm I was kind of hoping the force would tell me that,” She said guiltily which got worried glances from the others. Just then, Sokka heard chirping.  
“Morai!” She shouted in glee as the bird landing on her shoulder.  
“Morai?” Poe asked her with his eyebrows shooting up.  
“Yes. This was a friend of my mom’s. She saved my grandmother’s life once by giving her the last of her force energy.” Morai chirped happily with a little flutter of her wings and nuzzled Sokka on the cheek. She hadn’t seen Morai in a while. Sokka never knew where she went, but after her mother had died, her old friend practically vanished.  
Morai suddenly took off into flight and flew down one of the paths.  
“We should follow her,” Sokka told her friends as she took off after the convor.  
Voices started to rapidly speak as they ran after Morai, and they gradually got louder and more clear at every step.  
“Anakin!”  
“She may be a little rough around the edges, but with a great deal of training and patience, she might amount to something.”  
“Remember, you must put purpose before your feelings.”  
“You can’t just throw everything away like this!”  
“Do you know what I’ve become?”  
“Then I will avenge his death.”  
Rey’s face light up. “Those are the voices of Anakin Skywalker and Ahsoka Tano! We must be getting close!”  
“Those are my grandparents?” Sokka asked in awe. She had never heard or seen her grandfather before, and she had heard her grandmother, but Ahsoka sounded much different before she died. It made her heart swell with emotions as the voices grew clearer and louder than ever before.  
Then, one voice got so clear and loud, it could have been right next to Sokka.  
“I miss her okay! Is that what you wanted me to say?!” A man shouted. Sokka assumed it was her grandfather.  
“She’s a Jedi! She belongs with us. She’s one of us.”  
Morai then stopped at a certain doorway and perched herself at the top of it as the rest of the group stopped at a blank portal. Just then an image appeared in the doorway. It was of a young man with long brown hair and piercing blue eyes and another man that was ginger and had a clean cut beard. They were standing around a campfire and talking, but the young man with long hair didn’t seem too happy.  
“That’s Anakin Skywalker!” Rey shouted while pointing to the young man with a scowl on his face as he stood facing away from his companion.  
“Then that’s got to be Obi Wan Kenobi . . .” Poe said with wide eyes as he stared at the two men in amazement.  
Just then, the man that was supposedly Obi Wan Kenobi spoke up, “She made the decision Anakin.”  
“Well what choice did we give her!? The moment there were any suspicions about her loyalty that council turned their back on her.”  
Obi Wan looked to the ground sadly as Anakin sulked further away from the fire.  
“I will admit, mistakes were made, but she chose to leave. Part of being a Jedi is not letting your emotions cloud your better judgement, and that’s precisely what Ahsoka did, even in her most critical moment.”  
Sokka huffed, “No it wasn’t! She was the one who finally saw what Jedi like him couldn’t.” She scowled and crossed her arms in a pout.  
There was silence from the vision portrayed in the portal until Obi Wan said, “Why don’t you get some rest?”  
“I’m not tired,” Anakin replied bitterly, “Get some rest, Master. I’ll keep first watch.”  
“Then I will accept your kind offer,” Obi Wan said while laying down, but he didn’t shut his eyes. “You can’t take responsibility for Ahsoka’s decision, Anakin.”  
“How would you feel if I turned into a major disappointment?”  
This took Sokka and the others by surprise.  
“Why would she be a disappointment for making a decision to leave?” Poe asked.  
“Because my grandfather was selfish,” Sokka replied with a glossy eyed scowl on her face. She didn’t like watching this. Ezra said her grandparents had loved each other, but she never understood how he knew. He must have been lying to her just so she wouldn’t feel bad. Her grandfather clearly cared for Ahsoka . . . but in love? How could someone be in love and call them a disappointment? The glimpse of the past only made Sokka feel like even more like a mistake.  
“It’s not the same,” Obi Wan said from the other side of the portal.  
“It’s precisely the same,” Sokka’s grandfather replied back, anger clearly growing with the rising of the volume in his tone. “You took me under your wing and practically raised me. I’m your padawan just like Ahsoka was mine! How well would you sleep knowing I failed you?”  
Sokka let a few tears escape her eyes as she shouted, “She didn’t fail you! That’s what you did to her!” She clenched her hands into fists, wanting to punch the vision the portal was showing her. Sometimes, she wished her grandmother would have never met her grandfather. She knew Ahsoka loved him, but he couldn’t possibly love her back the way she loved him. Ahsoka hadn’t even been the one he wanted because Luke and Leia were born, and Luke was the one that was able to bring him back, not Ahsoka. She knew she shouldn’t be letting emotions get to her like this but watching the past prove she was a mistake didn’t feel too good.  
“Not very good I suppose, but luckily, that isn’t true and never will be,” Obi Wan told his former padawan while still on the ground.  
Sokka rolled her teary eyes at the irony. “Yeah, well he will actually be even more a disappointment and failure than my grandmother supposedly was.”  
Morai began to desperately chirp and flutter her wings as the image on the portal began to fade.  
“We need to go through!” Rey exclaimed and without warning, she dived through the doorway. The others looked on as she dove through, but the image was fading fast.  
“Jump!” Sokka screamed and dove through with the others following behind her.  
The group hit the ground hard. Sokka groaned and pushed herself off the ground when she heard two lightsabers ignite.  
“Who are you and where did you come from?!”


	4. The Realization

SOKKA POV:  
Sokka froze. That was her grandfather. At one point in time, she might have been thrilled to meet the Anakin that was with the light side by the way Ahsoka talked about him, but after hearing him accuse her grandmother of betraying him and calling her a disappointment, she felt like even more of a mistake. How could someone love someone and then go around calling them a disappointment? Sokka had never been in love, but her grandmother defended Anakin even after he became Vader. She always thought there was still good in him, and in the end, there was. And how did he have the right to call her a failure? He impregnated her when he was already with another woman, and then left her to raise a baby on her own. And then what did he do? He hunted her and the rest of the Jedi down and made everyone’s lives miserable. Of course, Ahsoka had never told him about the child, but that was because she didn’t want to mess up his life. She didn’t want to get in the way of him and the other woman he was with, and she also didn’t want to make him walk away from the order and everything he fought for as well. Everything she did was for him, yet she was the one who failed him? Ezra had definitely lied to her. She was just the result of a night Anakin never wanted to remember.  
Rey answered Anakin. “We mean no harm. We are from the future. We came to fix terrible things that will happen, but we can only do that if you listen to us.”  
Sokka didn’t look at their reactions. She kept her back facing them. She didn’t know what they would think upon seeing she was a hybrid . . . That and she also didn’t want to face her grandfather. Ahsoka always told her she had a lot of her grandfather in her. She had meant it in a good way, and Sokka was never unhappy by the proud manner in which Ahsoka said it, but it also worried her. If that comment didn’t scare her before, it definitely did now. She wouldn’t let herself make the mistakes he had. She might be a mistake, but she wouldn’t be a failure.  
“Wait where is Poe?” Finn asked looking around in confusion. He wasn’t anywhere in sight.  
“He didn’t make it through!” Rey exclaimed while clapping her hand to her mouth.  
“It doesn’t matter now. We are going to change time, so he probably will end up in a different place anyway,” Sokka said while debating whether or not she should turn around. She didn’t want them getting suspicious, and she was going to have to turn around sooner or later anyway. Kriff it. She stood up and turned around to see two very surprised faces.  
ANAKIN POV:  
“Not very good I suppose, but luckily, that isn’t true and never will be,” Obi Wan told him.  
Obi Wan wasn’t making him feel any better. In times like these he would have gone to Ahsoka or Padmé, but Padmé wasn’t around and Ahsoka obviously wasn’t either. She had abandoned him. All because the Jedi Council turned their back on her, and they didn’t even realize they were wrong! He was told to just let go and move on, but he couldn’t. He couldn’t because he was in love with her. Anakin knew it was wrong and had tried to not feel that way about his padawan, but trying to not love her was like trying to breath underwater, and it only made it harder when he finally caved into his heart. Ahsoka had been seriously injured, and the two of them had to hide from the enemy. They were completely alone, desperately in love and by themselves for a long time, and one thing just led to the next. He didn’t regret anything, but it only made his heart yearn for her that much more. He loved Padmé so much, but Anakin rarely got to see her anymore, and she didn’t understand what it was like to be on the front lines. She couldn’t understand what he went through on a daily basis. Ahsoka shared these pains with him without even talking about it, but Padmé just couldn’t. Padmé was kindhearted and always willing to put her life in danger for a greater cause, and she was more than he deserved . . . but so was Ahsoka. Ahsoka was just as beautiful, possibly even more beautiful than Padmé and was also so much like him. She was similar to him, yet she was much better than him, and she would have become a way better Jedi than he could have ever been. As she matured and got older, she became more controlled and level headed. She was ready to be a Jedi Knight . . . but then she left. She left him. He wanted so badly to run off with her, but he couldn’t because he was “the chosen one” who was supposed to bring about the end of the Sith and restore peace to the galaxy. When he watched her get smaller and smaller as she walked down the steps of the temple, a million fantasies of the life they could have had together flashed through his mind, but every possible thing in the galaxy kept him from running after her. It was as if a thousand invisible chains were keeping his feet from moving. She was able to leave because she didn’t have that hanging over her head and left him to deal with all that by himself. Alone.  
He was abrublty snapped out of his tormenting thoughts when he felt a surge in the force as he looked up and saw a woman fall from a few feet off the ground and land with a thud. Another woman came falling shortly after and was followed by a man. Obi Wan was up immediately, and they both activated their lightsabers and prepared for an attack. Where had they come from?  
“Who are you and where did you come from?!” Anakin demanded.  
The girl with dark brown hair that was up in little loops got up off the ground and faced him. “We mean no harm. We’re from the future and came to fix some bad stuff that will happen, but we can only do that if you listen to us,” she said urgently. The future?! How was that possible? Was this some sort of Sith trick? He and Obi Wan exchanged wary looks. The other man that fell from the sky shakily pushed himself off the ground with a groan and looked around in confusion.  
“Where is Poe?” He asked.  
“He didn’t make it through!”  
“It doesn’t matter now. We are going to change time, so he probably will end up in a different place anyway,” the woman still kneeling on the ground with her back to them said. After a brief moment of silence, she stood up and faced he and Obi Wan. She was a human-togrutan hybrid! There was a single tear dripping down her orange cheek, and her bright blue eyes landed right on Anakin’s face. The woman’s hair was a sandy blond-ish-brown mix that reminded him of his own when he was a few years younger. In fact, she looked quite like him in many ways, but of all her features, the facial markings stuck out to him the most. Her togrutan markings made Anakin immediately think of Ahsoka again, and his heart began to throb. The woman only increased his longing to drop everything and have his former padawan in his arms, but her presence also strangely gave him a comforting, familiar feeling. Why did she feel familiar? He had never seen this girl before in his entire life! And why did she seem angry at him? And why was she crying?!  
He decided not ask those questions and instead told her in a questioning manner, “You’re a hybrid?” This made her look even more unhappy and another tear fell down her cheek which she quickly wiped away while attempting to pull herself together. She crossed her arms across her chest and pried her eyes off his face. What was with this girl, and why did it strangely make him want to reach out to her and comfort her?  
The strange woman sighed, and he felt her attempt to let go of her negative emotions through the force. Anakin felt her partially calm down, but he could still feel conflicting emotions through her thick mental shields.  
“Yeah. I am,” she said with unease in her voice as she looked away from him. He watched the flames from their campfire flicker in her brilliant blue eyes, and he could tell a million thoughts were racing though her mind right now. Why was this woman so curious to him? She was like the feeling of deja vu itself. Like the answer was on the tip of your tongue, but no matter how hard you tried to figure it out, you couldn’t.  
“Do you have any proof of being from the future?” Obi Wan asked while snapping him back to reality. Anakin was grateful for the reality check because he could have stared at this girl in wonder for hours. The force around her was practically screaming something at him that he couldn’t understand, and it made him want to flat out demand answers from her. The girl with dark brown hair’s face lit up, and she pulled something from her pocket. Was that - No. It couldn’t be! He had Ahsoka’s padawan braid back in his quarters with the lightsabers he had changed blue. He wasn’t supposed to keep her lightsabers, and he probably shouldn’t have changed their color, but it was all he could do to keep a piece of her with him.  
“This is Ahsoka Tano’s padawan braid. It was in a box that contained Anakin Skywalker - your - lightsaber!” She exclaimed excitedly while pointing to Anakin frantically. All the color drained from his face. A million questions went through his brain like the speed of light. It was her padawan braid! But why was it in a box with his lightsaber?! Did that mean she never came back, or did it mean they somehow saw one another again? Or did that mean they both died together? Why did this girl have a box with his lightsaber and his former padawan’s braid?! Anakin felt like he might just pass out from the sheer pressure on his brain.  
“By the way, Ahsoka didn’t fail you,” the familiar woman said quietly while still looking into the flames of the campfire. He then saw her murmur something. He was able to make out what she had said under her breath very quietly, but he wished he hadn’t. “You did.”  
It was too much. “What game are you playing!? What happens to my padawan!?”  
“She isn’t your padawan anymore and never will be again,” she retorted back quickly with venom dripping off of her words like the tears falling from her eyes. Anakin didn’t know whether to get angry with her or to step back and hold his head in his hands. Ahsoka wasn’t coming back. He instead just stared at her with wide eyes, frozen to where he stood.  
“I think we should all just calm down and then talk about everything,” the other woman said while walking over to the hybrid who currently looked like she might have a breakdown at any moment and placed a hand on her shoulder. The mysterious woman slumped her shoulders at the gesture and dropped her head into her hands. What is going on?! Why was this girl so upset about he and Ahsoka’s personal problems? Did she know Ahsoka? And why did he want to go and give her a hug . . . ?Anakin really had the strongest urge to just walk up to her and pull her into his arms, but he wasn’t going to do that. He did have a reputation to hold onto, and this girl didn’t seem to want him anywhere near her for some reason.  
“I agree. We all just need to calm down and figure out what is going on,” Obi Wan replied to the girl with the loops in her hair while lightly stroking his beard. “My name is Obi Wan Kenobi, and this is Anakin Skywalker, which you seem to already know.”  
“My name is Rey, this is Finn,” she said and then made uncomfortable hand motions towards the mystery girl who was currently burying her face in her hands, “and . . this is Sokka.” Sokka? That sounded awfully like Ahsoka. . . Wait. . . She was a human-togrutan hybrid. She had had hair like his own, beautiful blue eyes, and she even felt familiar. She also seemed to know Ahsoka. . . Could this be . . .? No. But they had. . . His stomach dropped. Did he get Ahsoka pregnant? Is that why she left?! But it couldn’t be! Ahsoka would have told him! It made since, though. Why the girl felt so familiar, why he felt so protective of her, why they had her padawan braid . . . the signs were practically everywhere, but that meant Ahsoka would have had the baby by now since it has been over 9 months since - they acted on their feelings. That’s what the random surge in emotion and pain was he felt not too long ago! And he wasn’t there for her when she was having a baby! Their baby! Did he ever get to meet his child? Is that why this girl was so emotional? She had also somehow heard him call Ahsoka a disappoint and failure, so she probably wasn’t too happy about that. Why did he say that?! This girl - his child - was right. He had failed Ahsoka. Anakin felt paralyzed in shock and grief. He couldn’t even form words for a few moments, and he felt hot tears roll down his face. Even after he saw Sokka sadly look up into his eyes, he still felt frozen.  
“Sokka . . . ?” He slowly asked, barely able to even open his mouth. “Are you . . .?” He didn’t need to finish. She nodded her head, letting the dirty blond, almost brown hair fall into her face. He felt himself move towards her and wrap his arms around her. Sokka stiffened at first, but eventually wrapped her arms around him as well. Kriff his reputation.  
“Do I ever get to meet you?” He asked with his voice cracking from all the emotions that surged into his heart. She tensed.  
“You never even knew my mother existed, and you certainly didn’t know me,” she murmured against his shoulder. She was obviously uncomfortable, so he stepped away from her. Despite her feelings of hurt, he could feel her confusion like a whirlwind in the force.  
“I’m so sorry,” he said through tears. How could Ahsoka never tell him? Did he never get to see her again? His heart felt like it was being ripped to shreds. Sokka’s gaze softened slightly, but she didn’t respond. He could feel pain still gnawing away at her heart as his tears made there way down his weary face. Anakin had to fix this. He had to find Ahsoka. A question then popped into his mind.  
“Is that why I failed her?” She widened her eyes, and so did the other two time travelers. Obi Wan even looked momentarily shocked, but his face quickly molded into a sympathetic expression. Rey and Finn glanced at Sokka nervously which was probably a really bad sign. They seemed to almost have a conversation with their eyes, but then Sokka finally just said, “The future isn’t too bright.” Well that sure cleared things up. As concerned as he was by what they had just said, he still had the urge to leave the planet immediately and run to Ahsoka. He didn’t have the faintest clue of where she was though, but he would find her - somehow.  
“So that is what you came to fix?” Obi Wan asked looking quite conflicted and defeated at the realization he made. Did he know about Anakin’s feelings for Ahsoka?  
“Sort of . . .” Finn said with a sheepish look on his face as he flicked his eyes back and forth between the two women.  
“What do you mean? What happens?” Anakin asked frantically. His urge to run off to look for Ahsoka was getting unbearable.  
“We should probably go and find Ahsoka,” Sokka suggested quickly while looking down to her feet. That he could certainly agree with. Anakin felt a thick mental shield come flying up, as if the one Sokka already harbored wasn’t thick enough. His own shields were practically toast and his emotions and thoughts flew all over the place like wild animals being released from a cage. He was going to get to meet his child, and see Ahsoka again! And this woman was his grandchild? He wanted to hit his head on a rock for being so stupid. Why did he let Ahsoka leave? She was all alone in the galaxy with a new born baby and nothing and no one to help her. His heart ached as he watched his future grandchild slump down onto a log and cut herself off from him. He longed to know everything about her. How had she gotten her two lightsabers? Did she use the reverse grip like her grandmother? Was she a talented pilot like he was? What was - he didn’t even know his own child’s name.  
“Wh - what was her name?” He closed his eyes for a moment to keep the tears at bay before saying, “My child’s name.” Sokka didn’t move or speak for a few moments. Neither her or Anakin noticed the dumbstruck faces of Rey, Finn, and Obi Wan. Anakin was so wrapped up in his own pain, he didn’t even notice Obi Wan put his hand on his shoulder.  
“Ashla.”


	5. Not a mistake

OBI WAN POV:  
Obi Wan sat in the copilot seat contemplating everything that had just happened. Anakin had a child . . . with his former padawan. Obi Wan knew they had feelings for each other, but he had never thought they had gotten that close. Also, to make things even more crazy, Anakin’s very own grandchild somehow traveled back in time to fix something that goes terribly wrong, and apparently, Anakin had never even known of his daughter’s existence. These were all mind boggling, but the thing that stuck out to him the most was not something he had learned from Anakin or the time travelers but rather figured out on his own. Anakin had cheated on Padmé. Although Anakin never told Obi Wan about his relationship with the senator, it was quite obvious, and he could tell they shared a deep bond with each other. Anakin seemed so loyal to her, so it just seemed so wrong that he . . . had gotten busy . . . with another woman, and his own padawan of all people. Anakin should have never been assigned a female padawan that was so close to his age in the first place. As crazy as the thought of Anakin cheating on Padmé was, it actually made terrible sense. Ahsoka and Anakin were together all the time, and alone quite a good bit for that matter, they were very similar, they both clearly, deeply cared for each other, and Anakin, who was hardly an adult and already had attachment issues, had been assigned a pretty teenage togrutan girl to be by his side. Anakin was no rule follower either, so if he wanted to do something, no rule in the book could stop him. The child also explained the random comfortableness the two suddenly had around each other soon before Ahsoka left. The reason Ahsoka left also became much clearer as he thought about it. Obi Wan shook his head with a sigh. He should have known before. Hopefully, Anakin could work something out in the end. He might not be perfect, but he certainly didn’t deserve to miss out on seeing his own child grow up, and he definitely did not deserve to loose the one he truly loved after letting them slip through his fingers. Obi Wan had already made that mistake.  
The ship came out of hyperspace. He, Fin, and Rey had reached Coruscant. They were on their way to have a much needed discussion with the Jedi Council while Sokka and Anakin went to find the former Jedi padawan, Ahsoka Tano.  
‘May the force be with you, Anakin and Sokka.’  
SOKKA POV:  
As Sokka sat in the copilot’s seat, she tried not to stare at Anakin, but she kept finding her gaze creeping over in his direction. She had seen holovids with him and knew what he looked like, but she didn’t realize how emotional he was. Although he sat there staring out into hyperspace without making a sound, she could feel his pain and self loathing through the force. She mentally face palmed herself for saying he had failed Ahsoka out loud and reflected on how cold she had been. Sokka might have been too harsh, but after having ease dropped on Anakin’s conversation with Obi Wan, Sokka grew bitter. He talked about her failing him when it was the other way around! Or maybe it was just because she felt so pathetic. She eyed Anakin again and could see the dried tears which stained his face and left his eyes looking pink. Sokka contemplated what to say, but the first thing she thought of was a question. “Do you love Ahsoka?” Stupid! That would only make him feel worse! She mentally cursed at herself as he turned to her with a painfully shocked expression plastered on his face. “Of course I do! Why?! Does Ahsoka think I don’t!?” He spoke frantically as his eyes darted across Sokka’s face as if they were searching for answers in her expression. “No - well she never really talked about wether or not you loved her, but she certainly talked about how amazing you were.” Sokka gave an attempt at her best smile, but it turned into a strange twitch of her face muscles. Anakin didn’t look reassured by this. “She must think I was just using her. No wonder she walked away! You were right. I did fail her,” he cried out sadly while running his hands through his long hair. Ugh! She was really bad at comforting people. Why did she ask if he loved Ahsoka!? She had been trying to think of things to say that would make him feel better, but she asked that of all things! “Anakin, she doesn’t think you used her.” “She doesn’t?” He asked her with emotions cracking through his tone like water squirting from a crack in a dam. His watery blue eyes looked up at her in pained curiosity as she thought of something to say. After a few moments of contemplating the best answer, she said, “Ahsoka never expected anything more from you than what you were. She loved everything about you, and she definitely wouldn’t have walked away from you because she wanted to. She left the order because she knew you were in a relationship with someone else and didn’t want to come between you and her. She also didn’t want to make you leave behind the order and everything else just because of her baby, so she never told you about it.” Sokka had never seen such a pained express before. The bags under his eyes suddenly seemed to darken, and his whole face seemed to grow older within seconds. His face dropped, and his entire body posture took on a defeated stance as he looked to the floor. She definitely wasn’t doing a good job at comforting. “She knew . . . about Padmé?” He asked barely above a whisper. Sokka just slowly nodded her head, but he didn’t need to see her to know the truth. “I’m such a horrible person. Ahsoka is so selfless, and I just gave into my desires. I don’t deserve her love.” All of the bitter thoughts she had been feeling towards him earlier were completely gone. He wasn’t a monster. He was just a man her age that had too many bottled up emotions. She was not letting Palpatine turn him to the dark side, and if she had to die to stop that from happening, so be it. She had already planned this, but now she had a concrete need to be successful. Sokka got up from the stiff chair she had been in and pulled her young grandfather into a hug. He immediately begun to cry into her shoulder like a child would with his mother, and she let him as she silently cried as well. Maybe she wasn’t a mistake. She definitely wasn’t planed, but her grandfather seemed like he really cared for Ahsoka. He seemed to truly loved her like Ezra had always told her and she had never believed. “You know, I always felt like a mistake, but now that I have gotten to meet you, I finally feel . . .” She couldn’t find the words to describe what it was. The feeling was as if her life’s sole problem was solved. Like she was finally at peace. “I just know that I wasn’t a mistake, and I am going to make sure my mother never feels that way either.” They were going to find Ahsoka, and whether Anakin chose her grandmother or not, her mother was going to grow up with parents . . . even if that meant Sokka was never born.


	6. Just an update. Not a chapter

I just made some major edits to the last two chapters, so before I post the new chapter, you should probably go back a read what I changed. Enjoy!


	7. Ahsoka

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is such a small chapter, but I wanted you guys to understand Ahsoka’s reasons for hiding the child before I wrote the next part. Enjoy ☺️

AHSOKA POV:  
Ahsoka woke to wailing. It was Ashla . . . again. It was getting harder and harder to be a mother on her own. Of course, she had Nyx to help her out, but it still wasn’t enough. He wasn’t Anakin. Every day she spent away from him made her miss him more and more, and she constantly wondered if he was happy. Anakin would obviously miss her, but would he get over her? Could he move on and enjoy life with Padmé? Would he . . . forget about her? Ahsoka shook these thoughts away as she got up to go rock her new born baby. She gently picked up the frail little bundle and eased her back and forth in her arms while gently humming. Ashla was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. She had skin like Anakin’s except it was slightly more tan than most human skin, and she had big blue eyes that sparkled with wonder and curiosity. She even had togrutan markings just as Ahsoka had. Ashla’s were different, though. White lines zig zagged down her tan forehead and ended right above her nose. More marks jagged down her jawline, and made her fat little baby cheeks looks strangely defined. Despite the markings on her face, she still had human eye brows. Ashla scrunched her small eyebrows low on her face as her crying continued. Her child even had some little tuffs of dirty blond hair on her bald head. One day, it would grow to be beautiful and would have the same color and texture as Anakin’s. Just looking at Ashla’s face made Ahsoka think of Anakin again, and her heart begun to ache again. His playful smirk immediately popped into her head for the millionth time, and she felt her sad longing return. She was doing this for Anakin. She would find and tell him about the baby when the war was over, but he didn’t need to worry about her and the baby while leading battles. She also knew how Anakin got, and he would drop everything to see his child, and then what would happen? Would Anakin choose her over Padmé? She couldn’t do that. She couldn’t use her baby as a way for Anakin to be with her. But would that even happen? What would Anakin think? Would he be angry that she hid the baby from him for so long? Would Padmé hate her? Would she end her relationship with Anakin if she knew? Thinking about telling Anakin made her feel queasy, and after Ashla fell asleep after several minutes of soft humming and rocking, she went back and sat down on her rock solid bed. She was going to have to tell him eventually. It was just unfair to keep Anakin from his own child, but she had to at least wait till the war was over. Generals didn’t have time to let their emotions cloud their judgement, and she was not going to cause Anakin to get hurt because she told him about Ashla. Telling him would just have to wait.


	8. Family

ANAKIN POV:  
Sokka and Anakin landed on Coruscant after quite an emotional journey. He had barely known the girl, and it was already as if he had watched her grow up. She was so much like him and Ahsoka, and she seemed to have just as much turmoil in her heart as he did. It was what made him feel so open and free to share his emotional problems, and Anakin rarely let out his feelings to people like he had with Sokka. He didn’t even open himself up like that around Obi Wan. The mini therapy session only made him want Ahsoka more, though. He needed to see her - and his baby girl, Ashla. His heart grew warm thinking of his daughter he hadn’t even met. He was a father. He and Ahsoka could start a new life together! They could raise Ashla and maybe even have more kids! He immediately felt like sprinting to wherever Ashoka was and twirling her around. They could get married! His heart quickly dropped. Padmé. . . What was he going to do? Was he already that over her? She didn’t deserve this. Sokka, having felt his mood switch so suddenly, put a hand on his shoulder.  
“Hey. It’s going to be alright. Let’s go find Ahsoka now,” she said gently.  
“And how are we going to do that?” He asked with an eyebrow raised. She thought for a moment. She vaguely remembered her grandmother once telling her something about living in the lower levels of Coruscant, so that was a good place to start. Then, if her and Anakin reached out with the force together, they could locate exactly where she was.  
“Anakin, we should reach out for Ahsoka with the force.”  
“You think that will work?”  
“She is a single mother taking care of Anakin Skywalker’s child. I’m sure if we clear our minds, we will sense enough anxiety in the force to show us the way,” Sokka said with a laugh. Anakin smiled and put his hand on her shoulder. They closed their eyes and cleared their minds. It took Anakin longer because his mind was racing with thoughts of Ahsoka and Ashla, but he eventually got there. Through the force, he felt pure joy and happiness. It was like the representation of the light side itself was shining inside of him and clearing out his cloudy heart, full of demons that haunted him daily from within.  
“I think I know where she is!” Sokka shouted, successfully ripping him out of the blissful state he was in. She immediately grabbed his arm and yanked him to their rusty old ship. Dang. She was a lot like Ahsoka. He secretly hoped Ashla didn’t grow up to be that strong, but then again he loved that about Ahsoka. Let’s just say it could be quite painful sometimes.  
Once inside the ship, she immediately took off to the lower levels of Coruscant.  
“Where exactly is it we are going?” Anakin asked her while rubbing the arm she had yanked.  
“Well, I don’t know exactly. I just have a feeling of where it is, if you know what I mean,” she said with pink rushing to her cheeks. He rolled his eyes, but he wasn’t really annoyed. He was actually over the moon excited to see Ahsoka and his child. His own child! Would she have montrals or hair? Would she have facial markings and orange skin like Ahsoka? She was definitely going to have blue eyes, that was for sure. And Ahsoka . . . he still couldn’t believe he was about to see her after all these months. How would she look? She’ll have grown up a lot probably. Would she be happy to see him? He still didn’t understand why she didn’t ever tell him about the child. He might be able to understand during the war . . . but not ever telling him?! He apparently never knew Ashla or Sokka existed in the future, and it made his heart twist at the thought of never meeting Sokka. He was already extremely attached to her and couldn’t imagine never seeing her again. Would she have to go back to her timeline? What if - what if she somehow was never born because of him meeting Ashla. An icy cold fear creeped into his heart. He couldn’t have that happen. He had to find someway to keep that from happening. Could she stay with him and Ahsoka? She could be like their child! She was already their grandchild, so she could just be in this timeline as their child instead. Sokka was his age or possibly older, but she could still be part of the family.  
“Sokka,” he said tentatively. She turned her head to look at him with a big smile on her face. Excitement bubbled off of her and filled his heart with hope. “I was thinking, maybe, you could . . . stay in this time period. With Ahsoka and I. You know . . . because something might change, and you would never be born, and I just don’t think I could handle loosing my . . . um grandchild I guess. It’s fine if that’s totally not sm-“ he was cut off by squealing.  
“Are you kidding! Yes! That would be so amazing! I was already thinking that I might not be born because circumstances would change, but I just thought that would be okay. You actually . . . want me, though? As part of the family?” Anakin was totally shocked by her response. Not only did he think she would say it broke some law of time, but she didn’t even think he would want her. Why did she think he wouldn’t want her? He remembered she had told him she once felt like a mistake, so she probably felt like he wouldn’t want her. Oh he had to fix things so badly . . .  
“Of course I want you as part of the family! You’re my grandchild! I can’t stand the thought of you not being born!” Anakin held back a smirk when he said the grandchild part. It was still so strange.  
Sokka’s mouth turned up into a huge grin that made her eyes crinkle in delight. What if she was still born though? What would happen then? Anakin was about to voice this thought when Sokka went back to flying the ship. They sat in a content silence the rest of the ride, and Anakin’s restless feeling quickly returned.  
REY POV:  
She and Finn stood in front of the entire Jedi Council that had long been dead in her time. She felt naked from all the eyes staring through her and probing at her mind like someone picking through their lunch. They couldn’t get to her thoughts, though. She had tough mental shields, but she could still feel them attempting to get in her mind. Finn probably wasn’t so lucky as he was new to shielding his thoughts. There just weren’t so many force users anymore to use it against in their time, so he didn’t get much practice.  
“From the future, you are hmmm,” The crinkly little green master stared. She could feel the wisdom radiating off of him before he even spoke, and his very presence left her feeling similar to how Luke had always made her feel, except this was even more powerful. It felt she was inside a book, tasting and feeling the true meaning of the words on the pages.  
“Yes. We have come to stop a terrible thing from happening to the galaxy,” Rey said while trying to sound as confident as Leia Organa sounded when she spoke.  
“If you don’t mind, how did you get here in the first place, and how do we know we can trust you?” One master asked with an eyebrow raised. She didn’t know why, but he seemed like the leader of the council it there was such a thing. He seemed quite passive aggressive too which made Rey a little angry, but, luckily, she didn’t have to answer and instead Obi Wan did.  
“I think we can trust them. At first, I wasn’t sure. Anakin and I had set up a campfire when they practically fell from the sky, but they convinced both Anakin and I they were telling the truth. They came to us with Ahsoka’s padawan braid.”  
“How did they have her padawan braid, and why could they not just have it from this time period?” The passive aggressive Jedi challenged. Rey and Finn looked back and forth. Anakin probably didn’t need the council expelling him right now. They had to be careful with how much they told them, and it definitely wasn’t the place to spill the whole Vader thing.  
Obi Wan seemed to have thought the same thing - minus the Vader part - and only said, “Anakin kept Ahsoka’s padawan braid when she left, so it is obviously not the one from this time. As for how they had it, I do not know.” The council looked towards Rey and Finn at this, and they tensed at the sudden pressure.  
“Well, that doesn’t matter. What matters is what is going to happen. Chancellor Palpatine is the Sith Lord.” Rey decided it was best just to rip the bandage off. The masters were horrified as a result.  
“Then Duko was right,” Obi Wan said with alarm and disbelief in his voice. It was the first time Rey had heard Obi Wan ever show significant emotion in his tone.  
“And that’s not all,” Finn added. “He wiped out almost all the Jedi by controlling the clones with a chip he put inside their heads.”  
“Fives wasn’t lying!” The togrutan master gasped suddenly. The rest of the Jedi council looked completely stunned.  
“Clouded the dark side has made us. Careful, we must be in our actions.”  
ANAKIN POV:  
Sokka landed the ship at a little repair shop in one of the rougher parts of Coruscant. Ashoka was here with the baby? The self loathing quickly creeped its way back into his heart as he realized she was here because of him. Ahsoka should honestly hate him. He had chosen someone else over her and then decided to make love to her while she had still been his padawan and then acted as if nothing had happened between them. He wanted to smack himself. He was so clueless!  
They walked on into the repair shop with antsy feet and spied around the room. There was a man with dark black hair and pale skin at the front desk.  
“Um excuse me. Do you know an Ahsoka Tano?” Sokka asked in a very polite manner that Anakin couldn’t manage at the moment. The scrawny man looked startled at her name. Anakin narrowed his eyes. He was already not liking this guy.  
“Ahsoka? Yeah! She is in the back . . . you look a lot like . . . never mind. It doesn’t matter,” he said dismissively while standing up. Was he talking about Ashla? Sokka looked like Ashla? Anakin’s heart was hammering in his chest. He tried to control himself as they walked toward the back of the dingy little repair shop, but his senses were starting to go crazy with her force signature. She was here. Ahsoka was so close! And that pure feeling also came back. Could it be Ashla? After getting so close he couldn’t bare it any longer, he burst into the room he felt her signature coming from.  
“Ahsoka!?” His eyes landed on the togruta. She was sitting in a little wooden chair, asleep with a little pink bundle in her arms. She had grown so much. Her lekku were much longer and her montrals taller. Her face even looked much more mature and grown. She looked like a whole new person yet still like his Snips at the same time. She was gorgeous. He went over to her and kneeled in front of the mother and her baby. His baby. He traced Ahsoka’s facial markings with his flesh hand and then focused his attention onto the bundle in her arms. Ashla had his color skin, but there were light facial markings present. She even had little tufts of light brown hair like his. Her blue eyes blinked up at his face as she stirred from her sleep. He blinked back at her in awe, and she outstretched her small pink hand towards his face. Little gurgle sounds came out of her mouth, and she flashed the cutest smile Anakin had ever seen. He took her small hand in his and smiled back at her with tears in his eyes.  
“Anakin . . .” He looked up from the smiling baby and saw Ahsoka’s brilliant blue eyes starring back at him.  
“Ahsoka,” He breathed. Anakin was to star struck too move. All he could do was stare into her deep blue orbs.  
“You’re not mad at me?” She asked him sadly as she looked down at the bundle in her arms that was currently reaching a hand out to her.  
“Ahsoka, I could never be mad at you for this. It was all my fault,” he said with tears of shame falling down his face. She released one hand from Ashla and put it on his cheek.  
“No. It wasn’t your fault, Anakin,” she said while wiping tears from his face as her own formed in her beautiful eyes. As he stared at her expression, he remembered the question that kept looming in the back of his mind. He didn’t want to ask, but he had to.  
“Why? I’m not angry, but why didn’t you tell me? We could have worked it out. Together . . .” His voice cracked from all his emotions at the last part, and he couldn’t finish. She instantly looked pained.  
“I didn’t want to interfere with you and Padmé or make you leave the order with me. I planned on telling you, though. I just wanted to wait till after the war because I didn’t want to distract you, so I just never told you after she was born. I - I thought it was what was best,” she paused as she let her tears fall, “I’m so sorry.” He couldn’t stop himself. He leaned in and kissed her in front of whoever that dude was from the front of he repair shop. He didn’t care anymore. He didn’t have a care in the galaxy about the order, about the war, not even about Padmé. All he could think of was Ashoka.  
They were interrupted by the sound of laughter. It was Ashla. She was giggling at them. He and Ahsoka pulled away and looked down at the baby. She had been that feeling of pure light he had felt earlier! Her laughter felt like little ripples of happiness ripping through him, and he instantly felt even more complete than he thought he could ever be. Anakin instantly knew exactly where he was going to spend the rest of his life.  
“Ahsoka, I love you. I wanna start a life with you, and I don’t care about the order or anything else - not even Padmé.” Ahsoka looked taken a back.  
“Anakin, you can’t. I can’t make you do that.”  
“You’re not. Ahsoka, I can’t imagine letting you slip away from me again. When you left, I was so lost without you by my side all the time. I just feel so complete with you. You and Ashla.” She stared at him with starry eyes for a moment until confusion flashed across them.  
“How do you know her name?”  
“Oh yeah! Ahsoka, meet Sokka. She is from the future . . Our granddaughter.”


	9. Closer to the truth

OBI WAN POV:  
This was not good. They couldn’t arrest Palpatine without evidence which left them with only one option: taking matters into their own hands. It would be an effective ordeal but would only lead the people to further mistrust the Jedi, and they were growing less and less popular with the public every day the war ticked on. The council was in a very bad spot.  
“What do you suggest we do?” Obi Wan asked, not sure whether he was asking the time travelers or Jedi masters.  
“Well Palpatine used the people’s growing disliking of the Jedi to his advantage in order to build his empire, so you are going to need evidence,” Rey told them with worry boiling over her mental shields. Obi Wan didn’t even need the force to see she was growing anxious. He could see it lingering in her eyes like rain clouds gathering before a storm.  
“Skywalker is quite close to the Chancellor, isn’t he? We could get him to observe Palpatine’s actions for evidence,” Shaak Ti suggested.  
“No!” Rey and Finn shouted in a shared panic, causing Obi Wan to raise a suspicious eyebrow. The powerful but untamed Jedi attempted to calm herself immediately after her outburst and said, “That would not be wise.” Obi Wan could clearly tell they were hiding something. Something about Anakin - and it wasn’t related to Ahsoka.  
“Why not?” Mace asked with his infamous skeptical look. Rey and Finn shared a quick, knowing glance at each other, and their anxiety flared up over their mental shields like fire being blown in the wind.  
“Palpatine is just quite the manipulater, and Anakin is already very trusting of him, so I just don’t think that would go too well,” she said hesitantly. Obi Wan was not liking the direction the conversation was going. Anakin did trust Palpatine too much and was not going to take the news well . . . but could he really be manipulated by the Sith Lord? He did have a dark side to him, but Anakin could never be persuaded to join the Sith - if that’s what Rey was suggesting.  
The council exchanged nervous glances. She was obviously leaving something important out that was related to Anakin.  
Finn attempted to change the subject, “Maybe Anakin could fake leave the order and then kill Palpatine. Then, the people can’t blame the order for treason.” This got quite a few eyebrow raises.  
“We cannot kill him. That goes against what we stand for,” Depa Billapa said sternly.  
“I disagree,” Mace retorted quickly, “He is too dangerous to be left alive.” Obi Wan held in a sigh. For how strict Mace was with the code, he definitely did not mind killing guilty men. Despite his track record, he still wasn’t as reckless as Anakin. . . Obi Wan’s mind was drawn back to what Rey had hinted at earlier. Was that why Sokka had been so upset? Was that why Anakin had never gotten to meet his child? It painfully made more sense the more Obi Wan thought about it. If that was true, then he had failed his former apprentice. He was never the master Anakin needed. Obi Wan shook his head slightly at his train of thought. ‘Oh Anakin, I’m so sorry,” he uttered in the safety of his mind.  
“We need Skywalker in this discussion. He is supposedly the Chosen One after all. Does anyone know where is he?” Plo Koon voiced with concern in his voice. Obi Wan made eye contact with Rey and Finn.  
He spoke quickly before Rey could open her mouth, “He went to find Ahsoka. I’m afraid she plays a big role in the future.” He saw Yoda make a small little grunt sound under his breath. He probably knew. Yoda was far older than anyone in the room and knew many things the other masters did not. Sometimes Obi Wan wondered if the old Jedi Master even agreed with the code. His mind slipped back to thinking of Satine’s death, and he questioned for the hundredth time why he stayed with the order and never left to be with her. He had tried so hard to not think about her for so long because of the code that when she died, thoughts of her came rushing into his mind like angry waters bursting through cracks in a dam. If only the time travelers had gone back to a few months before and told him of her death . . . Obi Wan mentally shook his head and returned his mind to the present.  
“Wait for Skywalker to return, we must. Continue the discussion when he joins us, we will,” Yoda told the rest of the council.  
“But this is urgent. We should arrest him now or the entire galaxy will suffer,” Mace said with his tone raising slightly.  
“Delicate the situation is hmmm. A key part Skywalker and padawan Tano play. Wait we must.”  
And with that, they were sent to ponder on what had just been revealed to them. What would the council do if they found out about Anakin and Ahsoka’s baby? Or of who Sokka truly was? Sokka next to Anakin and Ahsoka could be quite a giveaway to council members who had seen first hand how close the master and padawan were, and Yoda would, without a doubt, put the pieces together immediately. This would cause Anakin to be expelled in a heart beat and Padmé to find out about Anakin and Ahsoka the hard way. Obi Wan was going to have to warn Anakin and quickly so they could decide what to do with the results of their reckless behavior. He sighed. Those kids would be the death of him.  
SOKKA POV:  
“Hello. Sokka here,” She said awkwardly to her extremely young grandmother. How old would she be right now? 17? 18? Sokka had never realized how young her grandmother had been when she had her mother. Ashla had also been quite young when she had Sokka but not as young as Ahsoka had been. Sokka had never known her father. Her mom didn’t like to talk about him and rarely gave information when Sokka asked, but she knew it hadn’t been a healthy relationship.  
She quickly turned her attention back to what was in front of her after realizing she had slightly zoned off and found Ahsoka starring at Sokka with wide, disbelieving eyes.  
“G-granddaughter?” She muttered. Sokka just nodded uncomfortably. Her grandmother looked between Anakin and her.  
“Wow. You two do look similar,” she said with a small laugh.  
“She looks a lot like my little Snips junior,” Anakin said in a funny baby voice while he tickled Ashla under the chin. The baby started laughing hysterically as Sokka’s grandfather tickled her mercilessly with a bright smile stretched across his face. The laughter brought waves of happiness flowing through the force and seemed to take every ounce of stress from Sokka’s body. She never realized how strong with the force her mother was, but it made sense. Her father was the chosen one after all, and Ahsoka was quite strong with the force herself. She had just learned to have much restraint from growing up in the empire, so Sokka never saw her mother use the full extent of her power.  
“So why are you here?” Nyx asked from the doorway. Sokka jumped when she heard his voice. She had completely forgotten he was there.  
“Oh um,” she almost forgot why she came to see Ahsoka. The family reunion was just too cute. “Well, the future isn’t too bright for our . . . erm . . . family. Or anyone else for that matter.” It was still odd that they were technically family. She had never known Anakin and neither had her mother. Ahsoka hadn’t seen Anakin since around this time period, well if you didn’t count when they fought each other, and her mother mainly lived with Nyx in order to stay off the Empire’s radar. Ahsoka had thought Ashla staying with her would be a bad idea with the Empire searching for force sensitives, so before the dark times were over, she rarely got to see Ahsoka. It was a family on paper . . . just a very spread out one.  
“What exactly do you mean by that?” Anakin asked and then added with his voice wavering slightly, “And why did I never get to meet Ashla?” Ahsoka made a sad and confused face as she turned to look at Anakin who was still holding on tight to her and the baby. Sokka wasn’t quite sure what to say. She hadn’t planned this part out, and she honestly never even expected to get this far.  
“Well . . . almost the entire jedi order was wiped out by P - ” She paused as they stared at her in horror. She felt like simply uttering his name might cause everyone in the room to fall over and die. After a moment of contemplating the pros and cons, she decided it was now or never. It was, after all, the reason she traveled through time. “By the Sith Lord . . . Palpatine.”  
ANAKIN POV:  
All of the color drained from his face. It couldn’t be. Palpatine was his friend. He had been like a father to him! He couldn’t be a Sith Lord! Wouldn’t Anakin have been able to sense the dark side when in his presence like he did with Dooku?! It didn’t make any sense - but Sokka wouldn’t trick him like that. He wanted to believe she was wrong, but he knew his future grandchild would never play such a cruel trick on him. For some reason, he already trusted her more than anyone else. Maybe not more than he trusted Ahsoka now, but before he had found her and gotten an explanation, he felt like he couldn’t trust anyone ever again. He didn’t even trust Padmé because if someone who cared for him that much could leave him, then so could she - he had still trusted the Chancellor, though. He felt anger boil up inside of him. Palpatine had been lying to Anakin ever since he was a boy! He had told him everything! Palpatine must be the reason he never met his child. Did he kill Anakin, so he wouldn’t get in the way of his plans? Then why did he gain his trust? That confused him and angered him at the same time, and he just wanted to scream. He was going to kill Palpatine, and he would let him suffer for all the pain he had caused his loved ones.  
Ahsoka squeezed his arm. He looked up into her eyes and could see the concern in the deep, ocean blue void. She didn’t say anything but just gently stroked his forearm in a reassuring way with her soft, peach colored hand. The simple gesture took some of his anger away, but it wasn’t going to be enough to keep him from slowly, very slowly, killing Palpatine.  
“Anakin,” Sokka said in a very serious tone which successfully pulled him away from Ahsoka’s eyes. Sokka opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. She shut her mouth back closed and looked to the floor with a hard look in her eyes.  
“What is it, Sokka?” He asked earnestly while forgetting his death plots for the moment.  
“I’ll tell you later,” she said with her eyes still glued to the floor. He could feel her mental shields get even thicker. Despite her impenetrable shields, Anakin could tell it was the thing that had been lingering in her mind every moment since she had abruptly landed by he and Obi Wan’s camp.  
“Are you sure?” He didn’t mean to press, but he knew how it felt to keep things bottled up, and that was something he never wanted his loved ones to experience.  
“Just not here. Not now,” she said while finally looking up. Her blue eyes pierced into him intensely, and he immediately felt a sort of dark energy wash over him. It felt like the opposite of what he felt with Ashla, but it wasn’t coming from Sokka. She definitely seemed to have a dark side of her - which unfortunately came from him - but this felt like the force was sucking the happiness from the air in order to give him a simple sign that he couldn’t read. Anakin unconsciously clutched Ahsoka and Ashla tighter. Whatever Sokka wanted to tell him was somehow worse than the entire Jedi order getting wiped out - a lot worse.  
Suddenly, Anakin’s comlink beeped.  
“Anakin, are you there?” Obi Wan asked through the device.  
“Yes Master. What is it?”  
“The council has summoned you and Ahsoka. Rey told them of the future, and now they require you two’s presence. They cannot know about Sokka or the baby,” Obi Wan told him in a hushed tone.  
“What do you suggest we do? I can’t just leave them out here on their own,” Anakin said with anger and fear leaking out of his tone.  
“I suppose they can stay in your quarters while you and Ahsoka go to the meeting,” Anakin’s former master suggested.  
“And how are we going to sneak them into the temple?” Ahsoka asked with a slight attitude.  
“Oh. Ahsoka, hello there,” Obi Wan said tensely. The last time he had heard from her, they hadn’t been on the best terms.  
“Hello Master,” she said calmly. The way she spoke sounded so centered and Jedi-like. When had she gotten so mature? Probably since she had to step up and take responsibility for a baby. . . He scolded himself again for not seeing the signs earlier on and helping her. There was brief silence for a moment.  
Obi Wan finally broke the silence, “Maybe you could lead them into the temple and wear cloaks which would allow you to hide the baby and Sokka’s face. The temple guards won’t question Anakin, and then when you get in, Sokka just heads to Anakin’s quarters with Ashla while you two go to the council meeting.”  
“That actually sounds like a good idea,” Ahsoka said in approval.  
“By the way, I would love to meet little Ashla when everything settles down,” Obi Wan said with a teasing tone. Anakin could practically hear his smirk through the comlink and looked over at Ahsoka as her face reddened.  
“I would love that,” she said smiling down at Ashla which made the baby kick her legs in joy. Anakin’s fears and hate were quickly washed away with the baby’s happy gurgles, and he felt a peace crash over him when he let the baby’s happy aurora surround him. He could get used to this.


	10. All part of the plan

SOKKA POV:   
Sokka looked up in awe at the Jedi temple. Her grandmother grew up here?! She had spent her life living in the shadows, yet her grandparents lived here?!   
In her peripheral vision, she saw Anakin’s sad expression as she stared dumbfounded at the temple. He probably thought Ahsoka or Ashla had never shown her the temple and was probably beating himself up again. Why did he blame himself so much? And how could someone like that turn into Vader? That brought her to the bigger question. How could she tell him?   
Sokka gave him a weak smile as she fought back the questions raging in her mind, and he returned a half hearted smile and looked away. Oh force, her grandfather needed some help. Could she even provide that? She couldn’t even help herself with her own problems! How was she supposed to help him?! Calm down, your okay. You are okay. The force is with you. Peace, Sokka. Peace.  
“Act natural,” Anakin murmured under his breath as they quickly approached the temple guard. Sokka held her breathe as they passed the guard, and, to her surprise, he didn’t even seem to take much notice to them.   
When they were far enough away from him, she let out her breath in a big sigh.   
“I can’t believe that worked,” she said with her teeth still clenched shut. Anakin just smirked at her and stood up a little straighter. Now that was more like the Anakin her grandmother talked about so much.   
They successfully made it into the temple without a second glance from anyone, and she was able to relax her shoulders when the group made it to Anakin’s quarters.   
“Sokka, please take care of Ashla,” Ahsoka said with the worried motherly look Sokka’s mother used to give her as she gave her the swaddle. Her heart tightened in her chest as she saw her mother’s features in Ahsoka. Her eyes held the look her mother gave her all those years ago, and she found herself studying every part of her face and comparing it to Ashla’s. Sokka might never get to see her mother again as an adult, but at least she could stop Ashla from dying such a terrible death.   
“I will give my life if it means keeping her safe,” Sokka said confidently. Ahsoka’s frown turned into a satisfied grin as she felt the truth in her words, but Anakin’s troubled look only flashed back across his face before he hid it behind a well crafted mask of neutrality. She was going to have to talk with him again - before the dreaded talk about what the future held. He definitely didn’t need to hear what he becomes right now.   
“I will be okay, Anakin,” Sokka said in attempts to ease his turmoil. He gave her a small smile and nodded his head. He then turned around to walk away without a word. Ahsoka flashed him a worried look, and then she followed in his wake, leaving Sokka standing in front of Anakin’s quarters with her mother - as an infant - in her hands. She looked down at the curious baby, and Ashla gurgled up at her. Sokka had never dealt with babies. What was she supposed to do with her? Could she set her down anywhere or would she have to hold her until they came back? What if she needed a diaper change?! Sokka used the force to slide open the door and rushed inside quickly before anyone went to investigate the wave of panic they felt in the force. She needed to calm down before the entire temple felt her worry.   
“It’s just you and me . . . Mom,” Sokka said as she let out of deep breath. The baby just smiled up with her and kicked her little legs from underneath all the blankets wrapped around her small body. “Just you and me . . .”   
AHSOKA POV:   
Ahsoka would be lying if she said she wasn’t terrified. She was going back to the council. The very people that had betrayed her just a few months previous, and she was supposed to pretend her heart was not leaping out of her chest. So many different thoughts rushed through her head, she could barely keep track of them. Anakin wanted her! He actually loved her! She always held some small doubt that he didn’t love her like she loved him. After all, it was only a one night stand, and she knew he was in love with Padmé already. It left Ahsoka extremely confused. He had seemed like he wanted her so badly that one day in the cave, but, after, he acted as if nothing had ever happened between them. She only wanted to know what it meant. Ahsoka knew what it meant to her but to him . . . Apparently, if her mysterious granddaughter hadn’t of traveled through time, Anakin would have never even come back for her. And she didn’t come back to him? Or even tell him about Ashla! Why would she be so selfish? What could happen that was so bad? Did Anakin die?! He would die never having known that he had a child!Panic rose up inside her like a wild fire as the thought crossed her mind.  
“Ahsoka. Calm down,” Anakin said gently. Her heart skipped a beat at the gentle tone he spoke to her in. She missed him so much, and she had almost forgotten how gentle he was with her - when she didn’t do something stupid.   
“Sorry, this is just a lot to take in.”   
“I understand that,” he replied with humor in his words. She laughed lightly, grateful for getting her out of her own thoughts.   
“You are definitely going to have to tell me the whole story of how you figured out she was our grandchild,” She said with a laugh. He smirked at her but then got a real serious look on his face.   
“I thought about you when I figured out. I hurt you,” he told her with a strained yet hushed voice as they passed other Jedi through the halls she used to walk every day.   
“No, Anakin,” she sighed. He was always like this. He blamed himself for everything that went wrong, and he was so stubborn about it. “I was just confused, but I should have told you. I should’ve known you would blame yourself.” He took her hand and squeezed it but let go quickly. They didn’t need to forget where they were. She might not be a Jedi anymore, but he certainly was and could still get expelled. She could still feel his turmoil, but she knew with some privacy, she could explain more. If only they could talk now? Her heart throbbed to be able to spend time with him again - alone. But this talk would not be too enjoyable, and she knew Sokka would need to be there too, for the most part. Maybe she could get to know her granddaughter more, too? She hadn’t known her for very long, but she already reminded her of Anakin. Turmoil bubbled inside of her just like it did inside of Anakin, and she seemed to put a lot of pressure on herself. Ahsoka could feel her anxiety in the force, and she wondered how she was handling being with Ashla.   
“You might wanna guard your emotions. We are about to be there,” Anakin told her quietly as they approached the Council chambers she had been in only a few months before.   
“Okay.” She put up mental shields and put her mind at peace when they walked through the familiar doors. This was it.   
REY POV:   
She almost gasped as the they entered the Council chambers. These were the people who had been in her visions. They were the very reason Rey was in the past. Her heart ached as she thought of the heartbreak they went through because of her own grandfather. Sokka’s grandfather might have been a terrible person for a period of his life, but at least he wasn’t Palpatine, the most evil man in the entire galaxy that never had a period of light in his entire life. Rey was almost envious of the broken girl, but they all had their own problems, after all.  
“Nice to have you back, Padawan Tano,” the Jedi Master, who she now knew as Yoda, said. Rey saw the togruta visibly cringe at the title.   
“Thank you,” was all she replied. Her voice brought back the whispers from her dreams and visions.  
“I won’t leave you. Not this time.”   
“Without the council, and without you.”   
“Anakin! Good luck.”   
Rey winced as the painful memories came back. She didn’t even know these people, but their stories touched her heart. And now that she knew they were in love . . . everything hurt that much worse.   
“Revealed the identity of the Sith Lord, we have,” Yoda said with his weird speech pattern. Why he spoke like that Rey did not know. Anakin nodded his head as if he already knew who it was, and Ahsoka kept her mouth firmly shut. Sokka had most likely told them already. Where was she anyway? And where was Sokka’s mom? Wouldn’t she be with Ahsoka?  
“I have already briefed them on that part, Master Yoda,” Obi Wan said with a very concealed look on his face.   
“Hmmm you have?” Yoda replied with a strangely knowing look on his face. The little green Jedi Master was so wise and unspoken, Rey was certain he knew more than he was letting on. “Good, that is. Little time we must waste.” She heard Finn let out a breath beside her.   
“With all due respect, we need to deactivate those chips first before we do anything about Palpatine,” Rey quickly said before anyone else could speak.   
“Chips?” Anakin repeated with confusion knitted into his brows.   
“Master Kenobi did not brief you on that?” The togrutan Master, Shaak Ti questioned him. Uh oh.   
“We were a little short on time. I only told them of the identity of the Sith Lord,” Obi Wan said defensively. Ahsoka and Anakin shifted a little uncomfortably.   
“Well since you two haven’t been briefed, every single clone has a chip implanted in their head that forces them to obey orders. This is how Palpatine planned on wiping out the Jedi.” Shaak Ti said sadly while shaking her head. Anakin shut his eyes closed tight and grimaced but said nothing while Ahsoka looked horrified beside him.  
“Then what do we do?” Ahsoka asked with panic pilling out into her words.   
“We kill Palpatine,” Anakin said darkly with his eyes still shut. Everyone stared at him a little shocked, and Rey and Finn flashed worried looks at each other. Ahsoka gave Anakin a concerned look and almost seemed to mentally communicate something to him through the force.  
“Maybe,” Obi Wan quickly said to draw attention away from Anakin’s sudden darkness. “But first we must deal with the chips.”   
“If we can just stop Palpatine from giving out the order, we won’t even have to deal with the chips,” Finn suggested uneasily.   
“But what if he still does and then activates the chips? We need them out of the equation,” Master Fisto retorted.   
“Well how are we going to remove the chip from every single clone’s head without gaining attention from Palpatine?” Shaak Ti fired back. Everyone grew silent for a moment.   
“Maybe the Jedi could be evacuated?” Ahsoka shrugged with her eyes set sturdily on her feet. Everyone stared at her for a moment until Yoda spoke up.   
“Hmm. Work that might.” Several masters looked shocked at Yoda’s response but quickly masked themselves with a neutral expression.  
“Won’t Palpatine notice that?” Mace questioned in his monotone voice.   
“Quick we, must be. Distract him, Skywalker must.” No, no, no! That’s not good.   
Anakin’s face darkened.   
“I’m not sure that’s a good idea master Yoda,” Rey said while trying not to sound panicked.   
Mace was about to question her when Ahsoka shot her head up.   
“Ashla!” She cried out and then ran out of the chambers with Anakin following quickly on her heels. Obi Wan looked startled for a moment but then stood up.   
“I should probably go see what that’s all about if you don’t mind,” he said in his matter of fact tone and then dashed after them with his robes billowing behind him.   
Finn turned his head to face her. “Should we-“  
“Hold on a minute. You have some explaining to do,” Mace said with an eyebrow cocked.   
“About what?” Finn said nervously as Mace stared him down.   
“Why can we not trust Skywalker to be with the Chancellor? That seems to be coming up in quite a pattern,” he said with a sly look on his face. Finn eyed Rey nervously.  
“Well, we came to stop the Jedi order from being wiped out, but that is not the only thing we came to change . . .” Rey said, unable to make eye contact with Windu.   
PALPATINE POV:   
He felt a great disturbance in the force. . . Something so great, it could alter his plans. He had sent a message to his spies within the Jedi temple to give him word of anything unusual, and sure enough, in a matter of hours, they contacted him.   
“My Lord, Skywalker has brought an unknown female into his quarters. . . and it seemed this person had a baby with them.” A baby? If he and that annoying senator had a child, his plans could be destroyed!   
“Bring me this child. And bring the unknown woman with you too.” He was about to hang up the call when his spy added something he didn’t expect.   
“That isn’t all. Skywalker seems to have rekindled his friendship with that togrutan female he used to be so attached to. . . and they seemed rather - close.” Was he suggesting -? The idea made him sick. Could the baby be a child of Skywalker and his filthy little padawan? It was possible. The two had gotten quite close. That would mean the child was even more powerful than that of Anakin and the non-force sensitive senator. If that was true, he could raise the child in the dark side of the force. The child would be even more powerful than the Chosen One himself. Palpatine smirked to himself.   
“Good . . . do not kill the togruta either. She will play a key role in my new plans,” he said and hung up the call with a satisfied cackle. Everything would fall into place just as he formulated.


	11. Taken

SOKKA POV:  
As Sokka gently cradled Ashla in her arms, she hummed a melody her mother used to sing to her when she was a little girl. It always managed to put Sokka to sleep and brought waves of peace crashing over her, but she hadn’t heard the tune in a long time. Now, the infant version of her mom slept peacefully in her arms, and Sokka got a feeling of content happiness she had not felt in a long time. If things turned out okay, she would be able to stay her with Anakin, Ahsoka, and her mother. She wasn’t sure what was going to happen with Anakin and the other woman he had been with, but she felt that either way, he would put Sokka in the equation. It was the first time in her life she felt completely wanted. Needed. Her mother had always wanted her, but it didn’t feel the same. It didn’t feel like a family but rather a mother struggling to keep herself and her daughter alive. Now, she felt like she might get a shot at having a real, genuine family, and peace she had never known settled inside of her.   
Suddenly, Sokka felt something unusual and snapped to attention. She felt something unwelcome in the force. There was someone watching her. She reached out with the force, and after a few moments of dead silence, she snapped her head to the left and barely avoided whatever flew past her head. She immediately force pulled whoever was in the ventilation system out into the room and ignited one of her gleaming white lightsabers that had once belonged to Ahsoka herself. Sokka quickly swung her blade at the assassin but was blocked by a blue blade. A Jedi? They exchanged fast blows, and Sokka was able to hold her own, but with a baby tucked underneath her other arm, things were quite difficult. Her mother, Ezra, and even Ahsoka trained her in all 7 forms of lightsaber combat, and she was quite skilled, but with a baby in her arms, she needed a way out.   
Sokka found an opening in her unknown opponent’s stance and force pushed her against a wall. She wasted no time and quickly slashed the window out of its frame and jumped out of it, so she could get Ashla to safety. She used the force to soften her fall, and she took to the ground running.   
There were several younglings training outside, and they all stopped their exercises to stare at Sokka running with a baby tucked under her arm and a pure white lightsaber trailing behind her as she ran. Did she know where she was going? No. But she did know she has to get Ashla out of danger.   
She felt an invisible force tug at her as she ran and was suddenly slammed against a tree. Sokka curled her body around the baby to protect her, but Ashla began to wail in distress. She was as able to brace herself and the baby, but the air was knocked out of her lungs which left her feeling dizzy and nauseous.   
‘Get up!’ She forcefully told herself in her mind. As the world spun around, she pushed her and Ashla off the ground just in time to react to the assassin running straight for them. Sokka force pushed her away from them and began to run back towards the temple in a dazed state. Maybe there she would get temple guards to arrest the imposter or whoever the assassin was? Sokka hating feeling so helpless, but she had to put Ashla’s safety before her own image. After all, pride was not the Jedi way.   
Instead of temple guards, she was met with another Jedi imposter. She ignited her lightsaber again and went on the defensive, but she sensed the other assassin getting back up behind her. Now she really needed help.   
Luckily for Sokka, the assassin behind her was held back by the Jedi Knight that had been teaching the younglings - but this luck didn’t hold out for long. The Jedi she was currently fighting with managed to kick her in the chest and grab Ashla from her tight grasp.   
“Ashla!” She heard Ahsoka scream from the temple. No! She couldn’t loose her mother again!   
Sokka leapt up and ignited both her sabers. This time, she had no baby in her arms and nothing to hold her back. She sprinted forward with her sabers in the reverse grip just as her mother and Ahsoka used, and she felt the force flow through her. She would get her mother back.  
Then, out of nowhere, she felt a sharp pain in her neck, and her whole body went limp. The world went blurry as she felt her body fall to the ground with a thud and her lightsabers clank beside her.   
Her vision went black, but she could still hear Anakin desperately scream her name. Then, everything went dark.   
ANAKIN POV:   
“Sokka!” He screamed. She fell to the ground with her unique lightsabers falling from her limp hands as she met the concrete. Anakin jumped in the air with the force giving him power to go farther. He would kill those fake Jedi sleemos for taking his daughter and for . . . she wasn’t dead. She couldn’t be. He ran with ferocity after the assassins, but they jumped onto a speeder and got away too quickly for him to catch up.  
“Nooo!” Anakin screamed in rage. If they hurt Ashla, he would make sure they never saw the light of day again.   
“No. No. We have to get her back,” Ahsoka mumbled in disbelief. She began to pace around frantically, probably trying to figure out how to get her back.   
“Ahsoka, we are going to get her back,” Anakin cooed, but he wasn’t sure wether he was saying that to comfort Ahsoka or himself. What did they want with Ashla? They would have killed her already if they wanted her dead, so they had to be using her for something. The thought boiled his blood.   
“Anakin! Come help me with Sokka,” Obi Wan said way too calmly for the situation at hand. He was always the one keeping his head when he needed to the most. Anakin wasn’t like that.   
“Sokka!” He shouted as he remembered her current state. He was so caught up with his emotions, he had almost forgotten about her. “Is she all right?” Ahsoka asked with her eye markings scrunching lower on her face in concern as she jogged over to him. If Anakin wasn’t so worried, he would have thought it was cute, but now was not the time for that.   
“She’ll be alright. She was only hit with a tranquilizer dart,” Obi Wan paused and then said, “It seems the people that took Ashla never wanted to kill her but rather . . . deliver her,” Obi Wan murmured in deep concentration while he stroked his beard. Deliver? Why would someone want to take an infant? Did someone already know he had a child? Could it be - paralyzing fear turned his blood cold.   
“Palpatine,” Anakin whispered darkly with a scowl on his face. “I will kill him.”   
“Anakin. Calm down,” Obi Wan told him with an almost fearful look in his eyes. Even Ahsoka looked slightly afraid.   
“I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me,” Anakin said while shaking his head in disdain which got an even more worried look from Obi Wan.   
“Let’s just wait till Sokka wakes up. We are going to need her before we make any rash decisions. We have no idea what we are up against,” Obi Wan said, and Ahsoka nodded in agreement but looked very dissatisfied. Obi Wan then made his way to pick Sokka up, but Anakin shooed him away.   
“I’ve got her,” Anakin said and waved Obi Wan away from his grandchild. He picked her up in his arms where she now lay limp and got the strangest sense of familiarity. It felt like he was picking up his very grown up daughter to go tuck her into bed. The feeling made his heart swell with happiness, but it was quickly filled with fear as he remembered why he was carrying her.  
“When do you think she’ll wake up?” Ahsoka asked beside him. He could tell she was studying Sokka intently. She was probably feeling very weirded out that this was her granddaughter, but then again, Anakin hadn’t gotten used to it either.   
“Probably not for long. The tranquilizer wasn’t meant to keep her out for long,” Obi Wan said with his eyebrows still furrowed. “We will just have to wait.”  
FINN POV:  
“Failed Skywalker, we have,” the wrinkly, green Jedi Master said while shaking his head.   
“I knew we couldn’t trust him,” Mace said with clear disgust in his tone. “We have to stop him.” Well, that was not going to end well.   
Rey spoke up before he could, “I don’t think you should intervene. We should leave that to Sokka.” Sokka!? Oh no. The council didn’t know about Anakin’s grandchild!   
“How could little Soka prevent him from becoming a Sith Lord?” Master Koon asked in obvious confusion. Rey froze.   
“With our help, Ahsoka could keep him from turning. Her absence was a big part in his fall,” Finn blurted out quickly. Several masters eyed him suspiciously.   
“Skywalker and his padawan were quite close. . . He was very much attached to her, and her decision caused him a lot of turmoil,” Plo Koon said while shaking his head. The other masters nodded in agreement, and Finn almost let out a deep sigh of relief. After the first statement, he almost thought they were catching on, but they still seemed to be oblivious.  
“We still can’t leave the fate of the galaxy to the hands of his former apprentice,” Mace said with slight anger leaking from his calm composure.   
“Hmmm trust them, we must. Evacuate the rest of the Jedi, we shall.” Rey’s mouth twitched into a cute smile. After all that happened with he and Kylo Ren, Finn still couldn’t help but like Rey. She was just perfect. It almost made him jealous of Anakin. He had two amazing women that wanted him, and his problem was who to choose.   
“Then we must hurry,” Shaak Ti said in determination.  
“One more thing,” Rey said with a bright smile now on her face. “We should evacuate them to Ahch-To.” Ahch-To? Wasn’t that where Luke exiled himself?   
The little green Master chuckled and said, “The location of the first Jedi temple. Perfect, it is.” Rey’s smile grew even brighter.   
SOKKA POV:  
“Only I have the power to save her,” Palpatine croaked with a menacing smile. A baby wailed behind him, and Anakin was shown with a single tear running down his face.   
“Anakin no!” Ahsoka called out while Anakin’s eyes flared yellow.   
“What have I done?!”  
Mechanical breathing rushed into her brain like toxic gas.  
No. No. Nooooooo!   
“Sokka!” Anakin screamed, and she snapped out of her sleep to find Anakin, Ahsoka, and Obi Wan sitting around her with extremely worried looks stamped on their faces.   
“You’re okay. It was just a dream,” Anakin told her softly, but Sokka didn’t hear. She was busy scanning the room for someone important.   
“Ashla! No! No!” She cried out as the memories came flooding back.   
“Sokka! Sokka! Listen to me. We are going to get her back, but we need your help,” Anakin said while putting a hand on her shoulder, but she shoved it off.   
“This is all my fault! I was weak, and I failed you and Ahsoka, and I failed the whole galaxy! All I ever do is mess things up, and my master warned me this would happen, but I wouldn’t listen!” Sokka wailed.   
“Sokka-“  
“All I am is a worthless screwup that was never even supposed to be born!”   
“Sokka! That’s not true!” Anakin shouted loud enough for the entire temple to hear.   
“But it is! You never wanted my mother and certainly not me! Everyone in the galaxy knows and loves Luke and Leia, but no one ever knew who the strange hybrid girl was! No one wants me!” Her entire life’s problems began to boil to the surface, and Sokka started to come unglued as she broke down.   
Anakin looked extremely hurt, and Ahsoka and Obi Wan looked quite pained as well, but Sokka didn’t care. She just wanted - well, she wanted a home, but now that didn’t seem possible. She ruined that chance by letting her own mother get taken.   
Anakin suddenly pulled her into a hug which was the last thing she expected, but she wrapped her arms tightly around his shoulders anyway and cried out tears she had been holding in for years. She even felt Ahsoka and Obi Wan wrap their arms around her and Anakin, and in that moment, she felt safe. She felt like she finally had a true home.   
“Sokka, I might not know you that well, but I do know I want you in my life. And I think I can say the same for Anakin and Master Kenobi,” Ahsoka said through Anakin’s thick robes.   
“You’re part of the family whether you like it or not,” Anakin said sadly but with a small chuckle.   
“And we can get your mother back. We just need your assistance,” Obi Wan said delicately while pulling away from the hug which ripped Sokka from that feeling of protection.   
“I might not know what home means, but I feel like that is being with you three,” she said with a watery smile and then added, “And Ashla.”   
A tear fell down Anakin’s face as he smiled at her, and Sokka suddenly remembered her dream.   
“Anakin,” Sokka said with all the emotions draining from her face and tone. He immediately got a serious look on his face at the intensity in which Sokka spoke. “I am going to need to talk with you before we go anywhere.”


	12. The truth revealed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this was kind of short 😕

PALPATINE POV:   
“My lord, I have the child,” one of his spies said. Anxiety surrounded her.   
“And the unknown woman?” Palpatine questioned with a threatening glare as he turned around. He held back a smirk as the two women’s anxiety flared. Fear always brought a smile to his face.  
“We almost had her, but Skywalker and a few other Jedi began pursuing us. It was critical we leave as soon as possible before they got the child back,” his once trusted spy stuttered out.  
“So you failed . . .” He stretched out the sentence to make it more impactful, and their fear grew like fire being fanned with wind.  
“Yes, my lord, but we won’t fail you again.”   
“Oh, I know you won’t . . . because if you do, that will be the last time you fail anyone,” he said with a maniacal smirk playing at his lips.   
Cold fear surrounded him in the force, and he bathed in its power. Soon, he would be the most powerful being in the entire galaxy. Everyone would fear him.  
“Now, show me this child that caused so much trouble.” One of his spies complied and unwrapped a bundle of blankets that surrounded the small life form, and what he saw disgusted him.  
“So it is the offspring of Skywalker and that stupid padawan,” he said with distaste in his mouth. Palpatine had known the two were close, but he had always thought Anakin was too blinded over that pesky senator to ever feel romantically towards anyone else . . . much less his own student. Love was a vile thing.  
Before Palpatine had learned of Skywalker’s affair, he had wanted that togruta to die by the hands of the Jedi’s hypocrisy, but now, her most irritating life form might just work to his favor . . .  
The pathetic infant began to wail loudly. It was so filled with light and good, it made his skin feel like it was burning in acid. That would change with time. He would make sure of it.  
“We think, somehow, the unknown woman we discovered is a possible descendant of this infant. They look so similar, and she also looks much too similar to Skywalker and the togrutan female,” one spy told him with her eyes on the floor. A descendant of the infant? Was this time travel at the works? Could the legends be true? The pathway between time and space was a tale he had looked into quite a bit, but he had never gotten far. Maybe, this girl was key to unlocking the pathway!   
Palpatine now had an even greater interest in the child and the unknown female.   
“Interesting. Very interesting . . . Bring her to me at once. I will not accept failure this time,” he said flatly. The women’s fears washed over him in the force once again, and in an instant, they were off to retrieve the woman that held the key to everything. Soon, he would not only control the galaxy but the entirety of time and space.   
ANAKIN POV:   
Sokka’s mood had changed as quick as the flip of a switch. She went from sobbing and heartfelt, to intensely straightforward and almost cold.   
She pulled him into another room and shut the door.   
“So,” he said rather uncomfortably. “What’s up?”   
“Anakin, you need to know something about your future. It is the reason neither my mother nor I knew you.” He listened intently for her to continue, but she just stared at the floor with a hard look in her eyes.   
“Sokka? What -“   
“You turn to the dark side and become Palpatine’s apprentice,” She said quickly, catching him entirely off guard. His heart practically stopped. Anakin stood frozen in shock at her words.   
“But you are eventually turned back to the light side and ultimately restore balance to the force,” she said with a more upbeat tone, but her face held no cheerfulness to it. He could only stare at her in shock. He couldn’t become a Sith. He couldn’t. He would never hurt people so savagely- but he could. He had.   
As self hatred began to set in, he suddenly felt arms wrap around him, and Sokka pulled him into a hug. He held onto her tightly as if the entire world would collapse under him if he let go. How could he do that? Why? How did Ahsoka and Padmé deal with it? How could he do that to them?   
He held onto the only thing he could understand at the moment as the entire world spun around him in a blur. Was that his destiny? Was that what was supposed to become of his life?   
“We can stop it. You don’t have to go down that path,” Sokka said with her voice cracking slightly. “Please. Please don’t go down that path. Don’t leave me.” Sokka was completely sobbing now, and Ahsoka and Obi Wan came rushing into the room.   
“Sokka? Anakin?”   
He felt them embrace he and Sokka, and he accepted it. How could he do that to people who loved him so much? Sure he and Obi Wan’s relationship was strained lately, but that didn’t mean anything extreme.  
“Sokka - I,” he grimaced before continuing, “I promise you. I won’t let myself become that. I won’t leave you. Ever.” He felt Obi Wan and Ahsoka’s confusion, but he didn’t explain. What would they think of him if he told them?   
“No matter what?” Sokka asked while shifting in the tight hug to look up at him.   
“No matter what,” he said with determination. He wouldn’t let Palpatine control him. He couldn’t let happiness slip out of his grasp again just like he had when he let Ahsoka walk away. For once, he would make up his own mind. Without the council, Palpatine, or anyone else telling him what to do. It was up to him. At this, he held onto his loved ones even tighter, fearing it may be his last.  
AHSOKA POV:   
She breathed in Anakin’s scent as she leaned into the group hug. What had Sokka told him that had caused so much pain? Was it what had been troubling Sokka so much?   
All of a sudden, Sokka pulled out of the hug, and said sternly, “We need to go get Ashla.” Ashla! Ahsoka hadn’t forgotten about her baby, but she was so preoccupied with Anakin and Sokka, her priorities had changed.   
But now, she was going to get her baby back, and no Sith Lord would stop her.   
“Where do we go?” Obi Wan asked Sokka.   
“Well, to the man himself. Palpatine.” Her tone was dark, and the force seemed to almost go cold with a sense of dread.   
“Then let’s get a move on,” Ahsoka said quickly, not wanting to waste anymore time than they already had.   
She was about to run to a speeder when Anakin grabbed her wrist.   
“Wait! You’re not going. I’m going alone,” he said with the familiar overprotective look in his eyes.   
“Oh no you’re not. I am going too. This is my child as much as it is yours.”   
“But I can’t have you getting hurt! He is too powerful for you!”   
“Not for all four of us,” Ahsoka responded with a determined glare in her eyes.   
“If you think I’m letting you or Sokka face him, you are mistaken,” Anakin said with an equally determined look in his pale blue eyes.   
They had an angry stare off until Sokka snapped them out of it.   
“Anakin, I’m not letting you face him alone either. I’m going with you whether you like it or not, but I think Ahsoka should be tasked with getting Ashla. Obi Wan can go with her for their safety, and us two can face Palpatine,” Sokka said with a scowl on her tan orange face.   
“But what if Palpatine attacks them? What if he kills you?” Ahsoka felt that cold feeling run through the force again, and she suddenly realized that it was Anakin’s own fear she felt.   
“We will have to make sure he doesn’t, and as for me, I will probably be born again if we get Ashla back,” she said with a shrug, but Ahsoka could feel the unsteadiness in her voice and felt it in the force around her. Anakin, obviously didn’t buy it either.   
“We don’t know that. What if you aren’t born? I can’t loose you,” he said with his voice cracking under his fears and emotions.   
“Anakin, we never truly loose anyone. I have lost my mother and Ahsoka before. They remain in the living force around us. No one is ever truly gone. Not saying it doesn’t hurt still, but we just have to move on. And besides, I can’t loose you either, so you are crazy to think I’m letting you go alone.” Sokka was definitely related to both her and Anakin. She was not going to back down from her argument until she won, and that was that. Anakin knew he couldn’t win and sighed in defeat.   
“Fine. I will say, you are a pretty good fighter. We saw you face those assassins while you had Ashla in your arms, and I was pretty impressed,” he said with the typical Skywalker smirk on his face. “But you better not slip up while fighting a Sith Lord. Those Jedi imposters were no where near his skill level.”   
“I can handle myself,” Sokka said with a similar smirk on her face and then punched him in the arm and ran in the direction of the door.   
“Come on slow pokes!” Ahsoka’s mouth grew into a bright smile as she ran after her future granddaughter. Sokka was definitely growing on her.


	13. Off to the Senate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I added some good Anisoka fluff for you guys . . Tiny bit of spicy content too ;)

OBI WAN POV:  
Obi Wan was conflicted as he flew through Coruscant. He had been put in front of the wheel, which was a rare event when with Anakin, but he had wanted to speak with Ahsoka. So, Obi Wan was the pilot instead. There would certainly be no fancy flying today.   
But piloting was not what troubled him.   
Had Sokka confirmed what Obi Wan had been suspecting? After her little breakdown, she had gone to tell Anakin something very important that she wanted neither he nor Ahsoka to know, and it had caused quite an emotional scene, at that. And Obi Wan was quite sure he had heard Anakin say he would never let himself become that.   
Everything fit perfectly into place, but Obi Wan still didn’t want to believe it. Despite all of Anakin’s issues, he was still a very caring person. He was his brother. How could he ever turn to the dark side? Why? Obi Wan still couldn’t shake the fact that he had failed him as his master. His master should have been Qui-Gon. He would have been the mentor Anakin needed, but Obi Wan had not been strong enough to save him. And everyone had to suffer because of it.   
But that was why Sokka was here. The poor girl did not truly understand how important she was. It painfully made sense why she felt unwanted and not important, but she was too much like Anakin. Anakin was too stubborn to realize that people cared for him. Sokka was the same way, and she might realize it now after the episode back at the temple, but Anakin deeply cared for her and Ashla. Obi Wan already had a place for them in his heart, too, and there was no doubt Ahsoka already loved her granddaughter as well.   
And the force definitely had bigger plans for her than she understood. Not only had she influenced Anakin, and potentially saved him from the dark side, but with her help, they might be able stop Palpatine’s plans from taking form. She was truly something special.   
If only she saw that.   
ANAKIN POV:  
As much as Anakin loved flying and hated Obi Wan’s piloting, his need to talk to Ahsoka was greater. If he died while fighting Palpatine, he needed her to know how important she was to him.  
Anakin sat with Ahsoka which cut them off from Sokka and Obi Wan who were in the front of the speeder.   
With the little time they had before they reached the Senate building, he took Ahsoka’s hands in his and looked into her deep blue eyes that twinkled with wonder.   
“What is it, Skyguy?” She asked a familiar smirk. The nickname made his mouth twitch, but then he got serious again. He had to tell her how he felt in case anything happened to him. Without Sokka traveling though time, Ahsoka would have never heard this from him, and he couldn’t have that happen in this time.  
“Ahsoka, if anything happens to me, I want you to know how much I love you. I - well - when I first got you as my padawan, I thought you would just slow me down, but that was so far from the truth. You -“ Anakin paused. He never shared his feelings like this, but he had to. He had to make things right, and if that meant finally opening up, he was going to have to go through with it. “Ahsoka, you actually made me such a better person and Jedi. I was supposed to teach you everything I knew, but, honestly, you taught me things I never thought I needed to learn. Without me even telling you about my past, you understood me better than most people did, and you truly cared about me. When you left, I think a part of me cracked. Funny. I didn’t want you at first, but then I ended up not being able to live without you,” he chuckled lightly and paused to organize his thoughts.  
“The time we shared in the cave that day. . .” Anakin blushed as he remember Sokka and Obi Wan were right there but continued, “I don’t regret it. And I’m sorry for acting like nothing happened after. I was just scared of my feelings. I thought I loved Padmé — I might still do. . . I’m not sure, but I do know I want you and Ashla. Whatever that means.” He smiled and leaned down to meet her lips. Anakin didn’t know what he was going to tell Padmé, and he didn’t know what exactly would happen between he and Ahsoka, but he knew he wasn’t letting Ahsoka get away from him again. Padmé would probably not want to be with him anymore because of his actions, and as much as that hurt him, he knew it was probably what was best. He had once thought they had been meant to be, but now he was starting to wonder if that was really true. Anakin was never his true self around her, and Padmé honestly didn’t seem to approve of his true self when he thought about it. Anakin didn’t even want to remember the incident with Clovis. It was almost as if Padmé triggered the dark, jealous, and arrogant part of him while Ahsoka brought out the light, understanding, and humble side. Maybe Ahsoka was his destiny if there was such a thing.   
He pulled away from her soft lips and looked into her deep blue eyes. The sun shed delicate rays of light upon her orange face as it set in the horizon and added a light sparkle to her beautiful eyes.   
After a few moments of gazing into each other’s eyes, she spoke up, “Anakin. I love you, but I don’t care what happens between us as long as Ashla can grow up knowing her father. I mean, being with you would be nice, but I’m not going to use Ashla to get y-“ Anakin cut her off with his lips on hers once again. The kiss was deeper than the previous one he had given her in order to express what he couldn’t in words: He wanted her.   
He wrapped his arms around her to further deepen the kiss, but he suddenly heard Obi Wan clear his throat. He and Ahsoka pulled away to see Sokka with a silly grin on her face as she tried to muffle her laughs.   
“If you don’t mind, we are almost at the senate building,” Obi Wan said with a smirk playing at his lips.   
“Yeah. It’s not like we are about to go determine the fate of the entire galaxy or anything,” Sokka said with sarcasm dripping from her words like sap from a tree. Ahsoka and Anakin blushed but stayed close to each other. It felt nice to have her so close again. Heat rose to his face as he remembered what it was like to have her body pressed against his. He shook his head. Now was not the time or place for that.  
Obi Wan quickly parked the speeder and almost as soon as he did this, an ominous feeling came over them in the force.   
“Do you guys feel that?” Sokka asked with a hint of fear in her voice.   
“Yes. No doubt Palpatine knows we are here,” Obi Wan said while gracefully hopping out of the speeder. Anakin, Ahsoka, and Sokka followed his lead and leaped out of the vehicle hastily.   
“How do we know where Ashla is?” Obi Wan asked the group. Anakin reached out with his senses for the brilliant light feeling he had felt when in her presence, and his anger flared.  
“She is with Palpatine,” he said with a snarl.   
Anakin suddenly felt a rush of pain through the force, and he looked up to the senate building in terror.   
“Ashla! No!” Ahsoka cried out and took off in a sprint toward the building.  
SOKKA POV:  
Anakin and Ahsoka took off towards Palpatine’s office, but when she and Obi Wan began to run after them, she felt the force around her almost stand to attention. She twerked her neck to the side just slightly, and as soon as she did so, a dart flew right where her head had been. They tried to knock her out again! This time, they were not going to get her out of the equation so easily.  
Sokka and Obi Wan turned to the direction the dart had come from, and they both ignited their lightsabers in preparation for a fight.   
“They are trying to separate us from Anakin and Ahsoka,” Obi Wan murmured under his breath.   
“I know. All the more reason to beat these Jedi imposters,” Sokka said with a smirk.   
“You are too much like Anakin and Ahsoka,” Obi Wan responded with an eye roll.   
“Yep, and that’s why we are going to beat them,” Sokka said confidently as the Jedi imposters came into their view.


	14. Predator and Prey

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not updating last weekend! School had just been a lot lately. 😫 hope you enjoy! :)))

SOKKA POV:   
She and Obi Wan got into defensive positions as the two women ignited their blue lightsabers. Those colors certainly didn’t belong to them. Sokka found herself wondering if they had once been Jedi and then turned or if something else had happened, but she quickly snapped her thoughts back to strategizing the best way to fight them when they began to move towards her and Obi Wan.   
One woman leapt into the air and came crashing down upon Obi Wan’s blade as the other aggressively sprinted at Sokka. She brought one of her blades up just in time as her opponent swiped her saber toward her chest, and their battle began. Sokka used her other saber to stab at the woman’s side, but the Jedi traitor quickly moved out of the way in time to avoid being impaled.   
Sokka heard Obi Wan taunt from beside her and said, “Blue certainly doesn’t fit you,” and the woman snarled back and put more power into her blows.   
From this momentary distraction, Sokka allowed her guard to slip, and she felt her throat begin to close up. Immediately, Sokka dropped her lightsabers to the ground and began to claw at her throat, and her vision began to get slightly blurry until she was unexpectedly dropped to the ground.   
When Sokka looked up, she saw that Obi Wan had force pushed the woman chocking her and was now taking on both women.   
Not wanting to leave Obi Wan to fight both women alone, she quickly scooped up her sabers and leapt back up, feeling slightly light headed but joined the fight regardless.  
She ignited her white blades and lashed and stabbed at the woman Obi Wan had previously been battling and managed to find an opening in her defenses. Sokka swiftly took advantage of the chip in her defenses and cut deep into the traitor’s arm which caused her to drop her lightsaber, leaving her defenseless and weak. Sokka brought her foot to the woman’s stomach and then face and knocked her out cold.   
Sokka stood there in pride for a moment, for she had never actually fought anyone in real combat other than Ezra, her mother, and Ahsoka in practice, so this was a big deal. However, her moment of victory was short lived.  
Obi Wan was thrown into her like a rag doll, successfully knocking Sokka down with him. The conscious Jedi imposter leapt at them with her lightsaber raised over her head in preparation to kill, but Sokka closed her eyes and felt the force flow through her like a fresh sip of water going down her throat as she forced the woman away from her and Obi Wan.   
The woman hit the ground so hard she was knocked out immediately.   
There was silence for a few moments as Sokka and Obi Wan regained themselves until Obi Wan managed to fill the silence.   
“Well that went well,” Obi Wan said, and Sokka really couldn’t tell if he was being sarcastic or serious.   
“What should we do with them?”   
“Well, leave them I suppose. I think we should focus our efforts on finding Anakin and Ahsoka. Something feels very off with the force, and there is no doubt it is somehow related to them,” he said while narrowing his eyes as if to pinpoint the ominous feeling that hung in the air.   
“I think you’re right. Anakin might be in trouble,” she said and got up to her feet and began to run, but Obi Wan’s words stopped her dead in her tracks.  
“He turned to the dark side in your time, didn’t he?”   
Sokka froze. She didn’t say anything, and there was silence for a few moments until Obi Wan spoke again.   
“Then we must go find him before it is too late,” he said gravely.   
AHSOKA POV:   
Ahsoka felt Ashla’s distress in the force. It was like a cold, icy feeling washed over her in the force and left her feeling empty. She could tell her child wasn’t in pain, thankfully, but Ashla was terrified. Of what, Ahsoka couldn’t tell, but either way she would get her child back.   
“Palpatine is going to pay for taking Ashla,” Anakin growled, and a dark void of emotion passed over her in the force. As much as she wanted her child back, she didn’t think Anakin’s growing hatred would be of much benefit to anything . . . especially himself. She’d been around him when he got like that, but it seemed, since she left, he had only gotten more violent.   
“Anakin . . .” She said while pouring lots of concern into her voice. Anakin stopped running for a split second and looked very conflicted but then kept going.   
“I want her back just as much as you do, but Ashla wouldn’t want you killing for her,” she gently said while using the force to quicken her pace to keep up with him.   
This time, he didn’t stop running, but she could feel the turmoil inside him.   
“He needs to die,” he growled, but his voice wavered slightly. “There is no other way to stop the things he plans to do. Simply putting him in prison won’t stop him.”   
“I understand that, but we should not do it for revenge, Anakin. I’m not trying to lecture you, I just want to make sure you don’t make decisions out of anger. Trust me, I understand how you feel, but that is what he wants. He wants you to use your hatred. Don’t let him, Anakin. Please,” she pleaded with him.   
He didn’t stop running but sadly said with a shake of his head, “I’m sorry. I won’t let him control me. Not this time.” Ahsoka could only assume what that meant. If she was correct, which was likely considering all the hints, she had been the reason he had been consumed by darkness. If she had never walked away, she would have been able to help him through his struggles, but her absence left him alone to deal with his issues - which she knew he had a lot of.   
“No I’m sorry. I left you, but this time, I’ll be with you till the end,” Ahsoka said with a determined scowl, and she felt his surprise in the force, but it was quickly replaced with joy and love swelling inside his heart.   
He gave her a genuine smile rather than his typical smirk and then looked like he was going to say something, but then shook his head. “Let’s save this for later. We need to find Ashla,” he said with a lighter tone to his voice than earlier. He was right. They needed to focus and find her. There was no time for apologizes right now.   
They used the force to quicken their pace and sped up in order to find their infant quicker, but they suddenly felt a violently cold feeling wash over them.   
“Anakin . . . It’s him.”   
“I know.”   
“Anakin, my boy, how nice of you to visit me. I congratulate you on becoming a father. How does it feel?” Palpatine said with an innocent voice.   
“Cut the crap. Give me my daughter back, Palpatine,” Anakin growled.   
“Now what makes you think I took her? Why would I ever do something like that?”   
“We know who you really are, Sidious,” Ahsoka said with an animalistic snarl from the back of her throat as she emphasized ‘Sidious.’ Instead of denying anything Palpatine just smirked manically.   
“Ah yes. Looks like I was right then.”   
“Right about what?” Anakin asked with his anger rising the longer they were without their little girl.   
Palpatine elegantly walked closer to the two of them which caused Anakin to instinctively move in front of Ahsoka. This was exactly what Anakin hadn’t wanted them to do, but it looked like Palpatine succeeded in weakening them.   
“That woman. She is a time traveler and a descendant of you two’s, no doubt.” Ahsoka’s heart dropped. How did he know?   
She glanced over at Anakin and saw fear flash across his face, but it was replaced quickly with determined rage.   
“Where did you get that information?!” Anakin asked with a threatening growl to his tone.   
“Oh that is not what matters my boy. What matters is keeping your family safe, is it not?”Ahsoka immediately realized Palpatine was trying to manipulating him.   
“Anakin don’t listen to him!” Ahsoka cried out. He flashed her a desperate look, but Palpatine started taunting again. It was as if he was the predator and Anakin was the prey. Palpatine was just waiting to pounce, but it wasn’t to kill. His goal was worse.   
“You can protect your child with my help. Let me teach you, Anakin. Please, I beg you. And your togrutan . . . lover, Miss Tano. . . It would be a shame if something happened to her.”   
“You dare threaten her!” Anakin yelled out and pulled out his lightsaber, but Palpatine’s next words kept him from acting out.  
“And what about your grandchild?” Ahsoka’s jaw dropped. They had separated. Anakin’s fear hit her like a tidal wave in the force.   
“You left her and Kenobi to deal with those Jedi imposters alone. With my knowledge, your loved ones would never get hurt.” He was threatening him.  
“Anakin! He is using you!” Ahsoka shouted. She knew he would do anything in his power to protect the people he cared about. Even turn to the darkside.   
“Join me, or you will have no power to save those you love. You would have the respect you deserved, - which the Jedi certainly don’t give you - the power you wish to possess, and most of all, the power to save those you care most about.”   
ANAKIN POV:   
He promised Sokka he would not go down that path. He wouldn’t for her, Ahsoka, and Ashla, but if he didn’t join Palpatine, he would kill them. How could he live with himself if he knew he could have saved them and didn’t. He couldn’t fail them like he had failed his mother.  
“You promise you won’t ever hurt them?” He asked Palpatine.   
“Anakin, no! You can’t possibly be considering this?! What about Ashla and Sokka?! What about me?! Anakin, I love you!” Ahsoka pleaded with him as tears streamed down her beautiful face. He couldn’t watch her die. They might hate him, but he could live with that. He couldn’t live with knowing he could have saved them but failed.   
“Oh, never would they be in safer hands,” Palpatine cooed.   
Anakin turned around and reached for Ahsoka as if she were the only thing left that matter in that moment. He gently stroked her cheek and felt her soft, slightly fuzzy face with his flesh hand. He leaned in and brushed his lips across hers knowing she would never follow the path he was taking, but it would best for her.   
“Anakin, please,” she whispered against his lips. “We could have a life together. With Ashla. . .” He silenced her with a kiss, and to his surprise, she still kissed back. Kissing her was still the most magical thing, but it was a bittersweet moment. He was doing this to save her, though. He had to.   
Anakin pulled away to see Ahsoka’s heartbroken expression. The facial markings directly above her eyes were scrunched together as if in physical pain, tears ran rapidly down her soft, orange cheeks, and her eyes were glossy and full of heartache.   
“I love you,” he whispered to her which only made her face contort further into one of pain.   
“Please, no . . .”   
“I’m sorry.” He turned around and got on one knee.   
“I pledge -“ he began but was cut off by the voice of his granddaughter.   
“Anakin!” Everyone turned toward the doorway, and there stood Sokka with Ashla in her arms as Obi Wan rushed in behind her.  
“Sokka -“


	15. Letting go

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about how short it is :( school is a lot right now

SOKKA POV:   
“Sokka?” Anakin asked from the floor.  
Sokka quickly understood what was happening the moment she walked through the door. Anakin was on one knee at the foot of Palpatine while Ahsoka watched with tear filled eyes from the corner of the room. Oh, Anakin.  
“Don’t pledge yourself to him! That’s exactly what he wants!” She shouted at him in a vain attempt to stop him from turning.   
He looked momentarily shocked, but his facial expressions quickly morphed into a look of pure misery.   
“I thought he captured you.” She wanted to smack him, but instead she put on a calm express and sent waves of peace to him through the force.   
“Anakin, you are going to have to let go. A few lives shouldn’t be chosen over millions.”   
“But I can’t let you just die. I can’t fail . . . again.” He shut his eyes tight, but before he could even stand up, Palpatine leapt over to Ahsoka and grabbed her by the neck.   
“Join me, or she dies,” he snarled, not trying to hold back the darkness that now swarmed around the room like angry hornets.   
“No!” Anakin leapt off the ground and pulled out his lightsaber, but Palpatine pulled his out as well. “Get away from her!”   
“Only if you join me will she live,” the Sith Lord said with an evil smirk playing at his lips.   
Obi Wan moved behind Sokka, but she stopped him and shook her head.   
“I - let her down first,” Anakin said with his voice cracking under his own inner conflict.   
“Anakin, don’t let my time line happen. Remember what I told you,” she whispered cautiously, feeling her slightest actions would cause the most catastrophic changes to the fate of the galaxy.   
“I can’t just let her die! I can’t live without her!” He shouted in frustration.   
“Yes Anakin. Let your anger flow through you. Use it, my boy. Use it.” Anakin practically snarled at him.  
“Anakin she isn’t the only person that cares or will care about you. I lost my mother, and I didn’t think I could make it without her, but I did. I found a new family. If she hadn’t died, I would have probably never even come back in time. Some things just happen, but we move on. We have to, or we will drown in our own pain. Don’t let him do that to you,” Sokka said, gripping Ashla tighter and hoping this time her words would reach him. Mentally, Sokka added, ‘Do it for Ashla, so her future in my time line doesn’t happen.’  
Anakin’s cloudy blue eyes looked as if a veil had been lifted from his sight, and he could see clearly again.   
Sokka’s heart rose as she realized she had shaken the fear from him, but before anyone could react, Palpatine plunged his lightsaber into Ahsoka’s abdomen.   
“Noooo!” Anakin screamed and lunged at Palpatine. The Sith Lord pulled the crimson saber out of Ahsoka’s stomach, letting her fall to the ground, and leapt towards the huge window that over looked all of Coruscant. He blew the glass out of the window with the force, and fell deep into the city, vanishing from their sight.   
Anakin ran to the window, but he quickly turned away in defeat and sunk to Ahsoka’s side. Obi Wan and Sokka were by her side in an instant as Anakin cradled her shaking body against him.   
“Anakin . . .” Ahsoka hoarsely croaked out. “Take care of Ashla for me.” She smiled sadly before a violent shiver ran through her. Ashla wailed out and began crying.   
“Please don’t die. I love you, Ahsoka. Please,” Anakin sobbed out into her chest. Tears streamed down Sokka’s face as she felt her grandmother fade away and bent down to put a hand on her shoulder.   
“I love you,” Ahsoka whispered to Anakin before she fell unconscious, and Anakin let out a loud sob.   
Sokka shut her eyes painfully tight and was too caught up in her own sadness to realize Ashla had reached her hands out of the swaddle to touch Ahsoka.   
“Anakin! Sokka! Look!” Obi Wan frantically whispered and nudged her on the shoulder. Ashla had gone silent and had her eyes shut in concentration as she used the force to heal Ahsoka’s mortal wound. She was only an infant and healing a fatal wound . . . Sokka really never realized how powerful her mother was in the force. No wonder Palpatine had taken her out before she could join the resistance.   
Ahsoka’s labored breathing began to even out as the wound in her torso closed up.   
“She’s healing her,” Anakin whispered in amazement.   
When the wound was entirely closed up, Ashla fell back in her swaddle of blankets and fell into a deep sleep.   
“Ashla!” Anakin screamed and reached for her.   
“She is still alive, Anakin. Healing Ahsoka just used a lot of her energy,” Obi Wan said with awe still clear in his words.   
Anakin let out a deep sigh as he grabbed onto the unconscious child and rocked her in his arms. For a moment, a strange peace seemed to rest over them. Everything seemed to be momentarily okay, but as usual, the moment ended.   
ANAKIN POV:  
“I hate to spoil the moment, but we still have a problem on our hands,” a voice from behind them said. Anakin turned around and realized it was Mace Windu. Oh force. There was no hiding how close he was with Ahsoka now.   
Beside Mace stood Master Yoda, the little green master that had to be about only three feet tall but was wiser and more powerful than any Master on the council.   
Beside the masters stood Rey and Finn who were looking at the scene before them curiously. Anakin couldn’t blame them, though. This was probably a very strange scene to walk in on.   
“In grave danger we are,” Yoda said. “Quickly we must act if to catch Sidious, we are.”   
Obi Wan swiftly stood up, but Anakin stayed with Ashoka on the floor.   
“Hand me Ashla, so you can carry Ashoka,” Sokka told him quietly as if it would hide he and Ahsoka’s secret from the Jedi masters. There was no point now. They clearly had already figured it out.   
“We will talk about you and Ahsoka Tano’s attachment later, Skywalker.” Mace spit out Skywalker with a reproaching tone. “For now, we need your help.”   
Sokka took Ashla in her arms, and Anakin delicately scooped Ahsoka up and planted a loving kiss on her forehead before turning to look at Mace with a defiant expression on his tattered face. Mace huffed and made a disgusted expression before continuing.   
“Because you let Sidious escape,” Anakin scowled at this, but his breath was quickly taken from him as Mace’s next words hit him, “he has now succeeded in executing the order to kill the Jedi.” Obi Wan’s eyes widened and looked as if they held a great pain behind them. Sokka just froze in her tracks and dropped her head.   
“But we managed to evacuate the majority of the Jedi order to Ahch-To,” Rey said with pride. Obi Wan let out a relieved sigh.   
“What about us?” Sokka asked with an eyebrow raised.   
“Yes. That’s the problem. It will be significantly harder to catch Sidious with clones trying to kill us,” Mace said with a frown. Anakin’s mind wandered off to the 501st. Would they forever be intent on killing the Jedi, or would killing Palpatine and calling off the order stop them?   
“So how are we supposed to find the Chancellor?” Anakin asked while finally standing up with Ahsoka tight in his arms. His heart grew heavy as her head lolled around on his chest. When Palpatine had stabbed her, his heart felt like it had been ripped out of his very chest. He knew Sokka was right. He should just let go, but even if he managed to push the dark side away, he would never get over loosing her. Padmé would always be important to him, but Anakin didn’t think she would ever be as important to him as Ahsoka was currently. It was as if he and Ahsoka were suddenly linked by an invisible chain and being apart from her or just imagining being apart from her felt like this chain was tearing his heart from his chest. How did he ever let her leave without him? How did he go on without her? He never wanted to be apart from her that long ever again.   
Anakin’s mind was suddenly snapped back to reality with a bone chilling statement from Yoda.   
“Reach out with the force we must. Hatred and darkness we will feel. Follow it and end it we must or consumed by darkness the galaxy will be.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Btw I’ll explain how Sokka and Obi Wan found Ashla in the next chapter it just didn’t fit in this chapter


	16. A New Plan

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for not updating last week. My life has been a little busy lately. Hope you enjoy :)

OBI WAN POV:  
The group of Jedi huddled in deep mediation in the center of the Chancellor’s office - well, all except Sokka who insisted she keep guard for any Clones while taking care of Ashla and Ahsoka, who was still unconscious.  
Obi Wan shook the pesky thoughts from his mind and concentrated on slipping further into his mediation. He let go of everything he felt around him and released all of the emotions that threw him off balance in the force.  
When Anakin had held tight to Ahsoka after her flirt with death, Obi Wan had been hit with a painful reminder of holding Satine after Maul had stabbed her, but, unlike Ahsoka, Satine wasn’t coming back. She was gone.  
Obi Wan took a deep, shaky breath and released his sorrow into the force. He let his mind fall into complete nothingness as his body relaxed, but instead of peace, he found something that jolted his very soul.  
Death. So much death and darkness. The internal pain was so unbearable it was bleeding into his physical state as if to compensate for the spiritual imbalance. The rage and pain was like an angry sand storm blowing over him and destroying everything in its path, and it was all stemming from a specific location. The Jedi temple.  
Why would it be there? They had evacuated the temple, hadn’t they? He ignored what the logical part of his brain told him to do and pried further into the cold sensation of suffering, and the location became clearer and clearer in his mind. The source of the darkness was deep within the temple, and he could almost see -  
Obi Wan was abruptly snapped out of mediation with a heavy gasp and a thud on the floor.  
Anakin had collapsed and was gasping for air with his eyes wide open. His entire face was deathly pale and sweaty, and he reminded Obi Wan of a sick, dying man. It was like he had seen pure evil, but based on what Obi Wan had just felt, he probably had.  
“Anakin! Are you alright it?” Sokka asked quickly and rushed over to the circle of Jedi.  
His eyes shifted over to Sokka, and his already pained expression became mixed with horror.  
Sokka raised an eyebrow.  
“What is it, Skywalker? What did you see?” Mace pressed with his eyebrows knitting in thought.  
Anakin’s breath sped up even further when he tried to speak, but he just shook his head in confused pain. What had he seen that had shaken him so badly?  
Obi Wan put a hand on his shoulder only to have it ripped out of his grip.  
“Anakin, relax. It’s alright,” Obi Wan whispered softly in attempts to get him to calm down. “You are okay.”  
Anakin just continued to shake his head and made unintelligible sounds with his mouth. Whatever he had seen had really scared him because Anakin never got like this.  
As if aware of Anakin’s pain, the soft voice of Ahsoka roused him from his dazed state.  
“Anakin?” The young Jedi Knight’s head snapped over to where the voice had come from, and he was up on his feet as quickly as he had fallen to the floor.  
“Ahsoka! You’re alright!” He enveloped her in a huge hug before she could even attempt to push herself off the floor, but he rushed at her so quickly, the hug resulted in the two tumbling to the floor. Neither seemed to care, though. He locked lips with her and passionately embraced her in a loving kiss that quickly got quite desperate and heated.  
Obi Wan and the others awkwardly looked away from the intimate scene in order to give them space. There was no time for that sort of thing, but from the ordeal they had just been through, they deserved at least a moment together in peace.  
Mace, however, didn’t think so.  
Master Windu cleared his throat in annoyance. “Skywalker! That’s enough. We have little time for that.”  
Anakin reluctantly pulled his slightly swollen lips away from Ahsoka’s and scowled at Windu before pecking Ahsoka’s lips one last time.  
“Fine,” he grumbled and helped the dazed togruta off the ground. “I know where we need to go,” he then said, getting serious again, and the feeling in the air shifted as quickly as his mood.  
AHSOKA POV:  
The last thing she remembered was Anakin sobbing over her before she blacked out. Then, when she woke up, she could feel this dangerous darkness swarming inside of him, slowing eating away at his mind. It was going to overtake Anakin if no one snapped him out of it, so she did what her heart told her to do. She called out to him.  
Next thing you know, Anakin tackled her and hungrily attacked her lips in front of everyone. When did the others get there? She didn’t really mind publicly showing affection for him, but what about the Jedi council members? Did they already know?  
Her concerns quickly faded as her mind melted under Anakin’s touch, and after a few moments of his lips on hers, nothing but her love for him mattered.  
But the moment had to be ruined.  
Mace cleared his throat and, in obvious irritation, reminded Anakin of their duty.  
To Ahsoka’s disappointment, Anakin’s warm lips left hers in order to mumble, “fine,” but he proceeded to plant a quick kiss on her lips once again before pulling away.  
Through their force bond, she felt him think, ‘I love you,’ through the force, and her heart leapt in her chest. She would never get used to all of his attention suddenly being on her. It was like he had finally opened his eyes for the first time when he had learned of the existence of their child, but Ahsoka wasn’t going to complain. She just wished it hadn’t only been the child that had brought him back. . . What if he cheated on her like he did Padmé? Would he do that? She trusted him with her life, but romantically . . .? Was a future with him possible?  
Her thoughts were fortunately interrupted before she could overthink everything she had once been so sure of.  
“I know where we need to go,” Anakin grimly told the occupants of the office that was beginning to look more like a battlefield than a place of politics. Ahsoka scanned the room in surprise. Furniture laid strewn across the floor, the window was completely smashed in, and glass littered the floor, along with lots of blood - her blood.  
Ahsoka eyed Obi Wan in confusion, and he flashed her a look that said, ‘tell you later.’  
She nodded her head and looked back up at Anakin who was now deep in concentration. It boggled Ahsoka’s mind how he could go from intensely making out with her to snapping into military mode in seconds. That was just Anakin, though.  
“We need to go to the Lothal temple,” he said confidently yet with a deep rooted fear laced into his words. Ahsoka saw the time travelers’ jaws drop out of her peripheral vision, and she raised her eye marking in suspicion.  
“Have something to say, do you?” Yoda asked quizzically.  
Finn fidgeted with his hands clumsily while Rey and Sokka had some sort of conversation with their eyes.  
After a few silent moments, Sokka took a deep breath and spoke, “We traveled back in time from Lothal. It was one of the few remaining temples during the Empire - before they destroyed it,” she made a frustrated, animalistic growl, and Ahsoka suddenly got a flash of pride for her granddaughter’s togrutan side showing. “Anyway, my master got lots of advice from the temple before it’s destruction.”  
Anakin’s eyes widened in fear, and he quickly looked to his feet.  
“What is it, Anakin?” Ahsoka asked in concern. She could feel the fear and hurt raging inside of him, and she wanted to free him of it. He always just curled into himself instead of sharing how he felt, and it drove Ahsoka nuts. He didn’t need to hold all of that pain by himself. It wasn’t healthy.  
But of course, he waved it off.  
“It’s nothing, Snips.”  
She normally would have smiled at the old nickname, but she could tell he was just using it to lighten the dense mood that was rapidly intensifying.  
Instead, Ahsoka flashed him a worried look, but he averted his eyes. Something was seriously wrong.  
“Well I on the other hand felt a great disturbance centered at the Jedi temple, although I do not know why it would be there,” Obi Wan said while stroking his beard, a sign he was in deep thought.  
“There is an ancient Sith temple underneath the Jedi temple,” Rey said casually, catching everyone off guard.  
“How do you know that?” Mace asked in a slightly demanding manner.  
Rey shifted uncomfortably before mumbling something no one except Ahsoka and Sokka could hear with their togrutan advantage.  
“What?” Anakin asked with his brows furrowed. Ahsoka and her granddaughter just stared at her in a mix of horror and fascination.  
“Palpatine is my grandfather, so I can easily sense him!” She yelled in annoyance and turned away from them. Finn put a comforting hand on her shoulder, but Rey didn’t react to it and just kept her head down.  
Everyone was so dumbfounded, they couldn’t find words for the longest time until Sokka broke the static silence in the air.  
“Who would have a child with that old kriffer?!” Sokka shouted with a disgusted expression plastered on her face, and Anakin slapped his hand over his mouth to stop himself from laughing at the insult.  
Despite the horrifying train of thought that just went through Ahsoka’s brain, she couldn’t help but pity Rey. Sokka may have not grown up with her family together, but at least her grandfather was Anakin and not someone as horrible as Palpatine. Her blood ran cold as she realized why the family had split up. Her stomach churned as she thought of the terrible crimes Anakin committed in Sokka’s timeline. How could someone as heartfelt and caring become such a monster? He definitely had a dark side to him, and she had seen how he was so willingly to pledge himself to Sidious to save her, but could he really become so heartless?  
Yoda, who seemingly ignored Sokka’s comment all together, snapped the group out of its frenzy with a few words, “Split up we must. To Lothal and the Sith temple we shall go.”  
“I’ll go to Lothal,” Anakin said with a dark shadow casting across his face. Ahsoka grabbed his hand and gave it a quick squeeze to keep him out of his own thoughts. He squeezed back but hardly even looked at her. It was almost as if he was afraid to make eye contact with anyone. Ahsoka almost wanted to just kiss the darkness out of him. It had worked earlier, and that dark aurora around him had cleared when he held onto her. Maybe she could somehow permanently clear that fog? She squeezed his hand tighter in hers.  
“Master Yoda, Rey, and I will sneak into this Sith temple while the rest of the group goes to Lothal,” Mace said with his calm composure returning.  
“Hey! Where Rey goes, I go,” Finn shouted in determination and grabbed Rey’s hand, causing pink to flush into her cheeks.  
Mace looked unimpressed.  
“You are not powerful enough to deal with a Sith Lord, boy,” he said with an ice hard tone.  
As usual, Mace didn’t think of feelings. It was ironic to Ahsoka that Jedi were supposed to be empathetic and compassionate, but Master Windu didn’t seem to be very caring and aware of others’ feelings at all. When the Jedi had welcomed her back, he hadn’t even apologized for all they had done to her. He blamed it on the force, but it was really the Jedi that had put her in that position. It was like her own family had betrayed her - all except Anakin of course.  
Finn looked like he was about to retaliate again, but Rey put a hand on his shoulder and shook her head.  
“I don’t want you getting hurt, Finn,” she told him softly. This made him grow quiet, and he slumped in defeat.  
Obi Wan awkwardly cleared his throat to get their attention, and said, “Back to the plan, how will you get into the temple?”  
The group grew silent as they dove deep into thought, but no one had an idea of how to avoid getting slaughtered by clones. No matter how skilled they were, three Jedi couldn’t take on thousands of clones.  
Then, as if the force had answered their question, two woman came running into the Chancellor’s office.  
ANAKIN POV:  
He, Obi Wan, and Sokka ignited their lightsabers as they recognized the Jedi imposters. Ahsoka got into a defensive stance but lacked weapons by her side. Anakin mentally cursed at himself for not getting her lightsabers from his quarters when at the temple.  
“We don’t want to hurt you this time! We are here to help!” The woman on the right side said and threw her hands up to prove her point.  
“How do we know you aren’t lying?” Anakin challenged. Since the imposters weren’t lunging at them or running away, he finally got a good opportunity to look at the women. The woman who had just spoke was human with extremely dark brown, almost black hair. She had pale white skin that complimented her equally pale blue eyes. She wore dark Jedi robes that billowed around her slender body, but it wasn’t so baggy that it hid all her curves. The other woman beside her was a Mirialan. She had a yellowish hue to her skin with dark purple triangles on her chin and diamonds glittered along her forehead. Her choppy, shoulder length hair was also a spunky purple color that matched her facial markings. She wore tight clothes that reminded Anakin of something a bounty hunter would wear with a few gadgets and a lightsaber clipped to her belt. His eyes were drawn immediately to her tranquilizer gun hanging at her side, and anger rose in him like a wildfire.  
Before he could act on anything, though, he felt Ahsoka send him reassuring waves of peace through their bond. All he wanted to do was take her far away from Coruscant and never come back. He just wanted to escape from all the darkness, bloodshed, and horror around him, and most of all, he wanted to escape from his vision.  
When Anakin had slipped into mediation, he had gotten a vision. But it wasn’t just like any vision. He heard the cries of so many begging for mercy but being slaughtered nonetheless. He saw planets blown to pieces as if it was nothing. There was so much death it left his entire body feeling drained.  
But that was not the thing that shook him to his core.  
It was Ahsoka. He heard her cries and felt her misery. Although he did not know why she was in so much pain, he somehow knew it had something to do with him.  
If it wasn’t for Sokka stopping him from turning, that would have been a reality. Why was he like this? What was wrong with him?!  
The Mirialan’s next words completely snapped Anakin out of his negative thoughts in an instant.  
“Because we want to be free from him. We were his slaves.” Anakin practically saw red. Palpatine made them his slaves!? He would kill that Sith slaver! Ahsoka’s waves of peace no longer had an effect as he fumed in rage. “When we were younger, Darth Sidious found us and threatened our families. He proceeded to put chips in our heads which gave him the ability to hurt us anytime he wanted, but he left us with our parents until the Jedi came to take us in - and he made sure they would. Then he forced us to do his dirty work and spy for him or else he would kill us and our families. We don’t mind dying, but neither of us want to cause our families to be slaughtered, so we just let him control us.”  
The blue eyed human then quietly added, “But we are tired of it. We want to be free.”  
Anakin was beyond mad.  
“Oh I’ll free you from him. I’ll kill him,” Anakin said with intentional intensity behind his words, but he immediately regretted his tone when Ahsoka had a fearful look cross her face.  
“Control yourself, Skywalker. You are going to Lothal, not the Sith temple,” Mace scolded with a thick scowl on his face.  
Before Anakin could fire back, Master Yoda intervened.  
“Telling the truth they are. Feel it through the force I can.”  
“How exactly could you help us?” Obi Wan asked curiously with an eyebrow cocked.  
“Sidious doesn’t know we betrayed him. He’ll figure it out eventually, but for now, he thinks we are still following him in fear,” the Mirialan said with an intense glare at Anakin as if sizing him up. He gulped, suddenly feeling uncomfortable under the power of her stare.  
“Which means we can get you through the temple without having a problem with the clones.”   
Anakin might have thought that was a decent plan if he hadn’t been thinking of ways he could kill Palpatine while still going to Lothal.  
“That might just work,” Rey murmured from behind, but then asked, “How do you suggest we get past the clones?”   
“Simple, we know several secret pathways from sneaking around all the time.” A disgusted expression flashed across Mace’s face, and he didn’t try to conceal it. Then again, Mace never tried to hide his displeasure in any situation.  
“Then go now we must. Little time we have.” Yoda was already hobbling out of the room while the rest stood frozen in their tracks.  
Mace was once again displeased and wasn’t afraid to show it. “You heard Master Yoda. Get moving.”  
The two Jedi imposters along with Rey set out after Mace in a quick paced walk but were stopped before they even got a few feet. Finn blurted out, “Wait what are we supposed to do about Lothal? And what are you two’s names?”  
The women blinked at him for a second before the Mirialan replied with some significant weight to her words, “Shir Shenuri and Zana Janin.”  
“As for Lothal, Skywalker, care to answer?” Mace asked as if just trying to get Anakin to crack.  
“We will know what to do once we get to the Lothal temple,” he said while darting his eyes to the floor in order to avoid Ahsoka’s gaze. He still couldn’t believe he would do so many horrible things just for her. Why couldn’t he just let go? What would happen if he did let go? He couldn’t fight the crippling fear that quickly passed through his body like a sickness.  
He couldn’t let her go.  
Just like that, Mace nodded and was out with the rest of the Jedi going to the Sith temple, leaving the others behind.  
Sokka’s timid voice suddenly emerged from the tense silence that had settled in the air, “I guess we should be going then.” Anakin turned to face Sokka and remembered she was holding his gorgeous little daughter.  
A question suddenly popped in Anakin’s head.  
“How did you get Ashla?”  
“Simple,” she shrugged. “We calmed our minds and sensed where she was and that she wasn’t with Palpy, so we went and got her. I guess he just expected you to turn, so he didn’t bother keeping her well guarded.” So it was all about keeping a clear head. . . Anakin wanted to smack himself for being so stupid. He needed a clear mind, but he kept just charging into things in rage and fear. Ever since Ahsoka left the order it was like he didn’t think things through and just fought with his pain and anger. He shook his head. Everything had played perfectly into Palpatine’s hands. He must have gotten Ahsoka framed purposely to push Anakin further into darkness. And Anakin had blindly let it happen.  
“I sure hope Ashla turns out like you,” Anakin told Sokka with a proud smile on his face. “But you seriously need to chill on the nick names for the Chancellor, though. And your language is not acceptable. We will talk about that later.” She rolled her eyes but couldn’t hid the twitch of her mouth as she laughed.  
“Oh you definitely thought of some colorful words too.”  
Anakin laughed, “Maybe. . .” But he definitely thought of more than just curse words when the Chancellor stabbed Ahsoka. He had wanted vengeance. Cold blooded, torturous vengeance.  
And that scared him.


	17. Darkness

ANAKIN POV:   
The group piled into a fancy ship nearby that they “borrowed” from one of the senators.   
In the back sat Sokka who appeared to be in the midst of a serious conversation with Obi Wan while Finn sat slightly away from them, looking out of place and uncomfortable. Anakin was the pilot, of course, and Ahsoka sat across from him in the copilot seat with Ashla tucked protectively in her arms as the child slept.  
A small smile crept onto Anakin’s face as he watched Ahsoka rock their child back and forth.   
How did he go so long without realizing she was the missing piece in his life?   
His eyes settled on the side of her smooth face, and he studied the way the facial markings above her eyes scrunched together as the gears in her head turned.   
She was so cute when she thought deeply.   
Ahsoka suddenly noticed his gaze and snapped out of whatever world she had been in to ask with a smirk on her face, “Are you going to take off or are you just going to stare me?”   
“Uh - I was just thinking.” She rolled her eyes and raised an eye marking at him.   
“Well do your thinking in the air, Skyguy.”   
“Whatever you say, Snips,” he replied with a smile and took off.   
If he was being honest with himself, he really didn’t want to go to Lothal. He knew he had to, but whatever awaited him was nothing good, and he knew it. It was as if there was some pit of darkness that lay deep within his stomach, and the more he dwelled on his vision, the more space the darkness consumed inside him. Maybe it was just the dark side of himself that he had always tried to ignore clawing at him to be free. Maybe he couldn’t stop what he became. Was he just destined to destroy everything he loved?   
He couldn’t take his own thoughts any longer, and as soon as they were in hyperspace, he reached out for Ahsoka’s hand.   
Whatever that dark shadow in him was, Ahsoka always found a way of bringing out the good part of him that he sometimes couldn’t find. So what would happen if he let go of her? He would probably become overtaken by his demons, and that good side of him would be torn apart like leftover scraps.   
“Anakin, ever since I woke up, you’ve been acting strange? Did you have a nightmare or something?” Ahsoka asked while giving his hand a reassuring squeeze.   
He squeezed her hand back but couldn’t meet her eyes. How could he when he caused her so much misery in Sokka’s timeline? He probably caused her a lot of pain already because he was a fool and pretended nothing happened between them for the sake of he and Padmé’s relationship which was falling apart.   
“Anakin?”   
“I had a vision,” he whispered while keeping his eyes on his feet. There was silence as she waited for him to continue, but his mouth felt glued shut.   
Ahsoka finally began to speak after moments of nothing from him, but his comlink interrupted her as soon as she began to get words out.   
“I’m sorry, I’ve got to take this,” he said and rushed to the back of the ship.   
Thank the force. He didn’t want to tell her of the things he saw. She would never look at him the same if she knew what he had done. The screams of the innocent rung in his head as he clicked the button on his comlink to accept the call.   
“Ani?” Padmé’s voice came from the speaker on his wrist.   
Oh no. He was screwed.   
“Hey Padmé . . .”   
“Are you alright?! I’ve heard terrible things! The clones - they’re turning on the Jedi. I didn’t know if you evacuated with the others or not.”   
“I’m alright. I’m on a ship to Lothal. I can’t really explain everything to you right now, but I will when I can,” he said while bitting his lip.   
“Alright. Please be safe, Ani. I love you.”  
He could taste the blood in his mouth as his teeth broke the skin of his lip.   
“Good bye.” He hung up without saying those three words back.   
How was he going to tell her? Did he really not love her anymore? Did he even love her in the first place? Why was his life so complicated!?   
Anakin took a deep breath and grumpily walked back to the front of the ship where Ahsoka awaited him.   
“Padmé?” She asked kindly, but he could sense the pain behind her words. No mattered what he did he only seemed to cause people pain.   
“Yeah,” he muttered and slumped into his seat.   
“Anakin, I know you love me, but I don’t want to mess up your life.” She paused and drew in a deep breath before continuing, “Please don’t choose me just because of Ashla.”   
He sat up to face her as faster as a blaster bolt.  
“Ahsoka! Don’t think I came back to you just because of our baby. Every single day you were gone, I wanted to go out and search for you, but I - I thought you’d realize you made a mistake and come back,” he whispered so the others wouldn’t hear the conversation.  
The familiar pained expression came upon her face, and his heart broke a little as she said with a wavering tone, “Can we talk somewhere private?”   
He nodded his head, and they weaved they’re way to the back, only stopping so Ahsoka could hand Ashla over to Sokka.   
Once they reached the room Anakin had been in earlier, Ahsoka turned to him and let out a shaky breath.   
“Anakin, I love you so much, but do you truly love me? What if you decide you actually love someone more than me just like you did with Padmé?” Fresh tears fell down her face as she wrapped her arms around herself, and his heart fell.   
“I could never love anyone more than I love you. I’m sorry about everything, Ahsoka. I was so stupid. I didn’t realize how in love I was with you. When I was nine, I met Padmé and thought she was the most amazing thing. On Tatooine, you just didn’t get people like her, and as weird as it sounds, she reminded me of my mother. All I could think about was her after I became a padawan, so when I saw her again, I thought I was in love. I just didn’t know what love was though, at least not until I met you.” Ahsoka’s eye markings lifted in surprise, and her face softened slightly. “But because I didn’t understand love, it took Sokka time traveling and bringing me to you for me to realize you were the only one I have ever truly loved. It took me a while to understand how I could love you and Padmé at the same time, but the truth is, what I had with Padmé wasn’t real. She is an amazing person, but we are nothing alike. Ahsoka, I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to raise Ashla with you, start a life with you, maybe even . . . have more kids with you.” He was blushing hard at his last few words, but Ahsoka didn’t seem to care. She closed the distance between them and grabbed his face in order to kiss him hard on the lips.   
Anakin relaxed into her touch and wrapped his arms around her waist as he deepened the kiss. Her tongue brushed across his lip, and he let her in as he slipped his tongue inside her mouth as well.   
Kissing her was so different than kissing Padmé. He always felt like he had to prove himself worthy of her with his physical affection, but with Ahsoka their love was just there. She always met him halfway, and he never had to prove anything to her.   
He felt along her mouth, and noticed that her tongue felt course and rough but in a good way. It was almost like a soft, damp version of sand paper, and surprisingly, despite his hatred of sand, he loved it. He thought Padmé was so wonderful for her soft skin, but as his tongue intertwined with Ahsoka’s, he found himself not wanting smoothness. Ahsoka wasn’t like Padmé. She was spunky and rough around the edges, and that was one of the reasons he loved her so much.   
Anakin, lost in the moment, tugged on the button that held together her jump suit, and she pulled away quickly.   
“We can’t do that. Not here,” she said through heavy pants. He could have smacked himself, but at the same time, he wanted to throw caution to the wind. He had missed her so much, and now, he was more in love with her than ever before. She was intoxicating, and he wanted more, but like she said, now was not the time or place.   
“You’re right,” he said glumly. “We should probably get back to the front of the ship.”   
He began to make his way to the front, but Ahsoka grabbed his wrist and pulled him back towards her and whispered mischievously in his ear, “But when all of this is over, you better expect another child.”   
His eyes widened and his heart hammered in his chest, but she just walked past him and out the door like nothing happened.  
He really was stupid for not realizing how amazing she was for so long.   
Anakin smiled happily to himself and followed Ahsoka back to the disappointing truth of reality.   
PALPATINE POV:   
“Very few Jedi have been killed so far, Master. The Jedi seem to have just disappeared,” Dooku said while looking only at Palpatine’s feet.  
That bratty Jedi girl probably informed the council of his plan! But things could still work out for him. It all depended on Skywalker.   
“Unfortunate, but it can still work in our favor,” Palpatine muttered while deep in thought. “I know my spies have become traitors and joined with the Jedi, so we will let them lead them to us. No doubt Skywalker will follow, and then, I can lure him with his own fears to tell me where the rest of the Jedi are located. Yes, this just might work out. I have a special job for you, my apprentice.”   
REY POV:   
To Rey’s astonishment, they had safely gotten inside of the Jedi temple without any clones noticing them. She would have thought it was too easy, but Shir and Zana clearly knew what they were doing. They stealthily crept into the building through openings the Jedi Masters didn’t even know existed and took such quiet steps that Rey wouldn’t have even noticed them if she hadn’t been sneaking along beside them.   
“Single file,” Zana, the dark haired human whispered to them. They filed in behind her and kept low as they entered into what appeared to be a ventilation system.   
It was a tight squeeze, except for Yoda, but the five of them made it through and were able to crawl behind Zana without making much noise other than the occasional shuffle against the walls that hugged them close.   
“We should be coming up on the door soon, Zana.”   
Despite the darkness, Rey could practically see Mace’s frustrated expression as he said, “How did we never know of these secret pathways?”  
“Because we are stealthy,” Shir said as she turned her head around to face them, causing her choppy violet hair to bounce wildly around her face. “And besides, how good of spies would we be if we let you find out about how we get around?” The purple triangles on her chin stretch apart as she smirked, and then she turned her head back towards where they were going and continued to push on.   
Mace sighed, and the group continued to crawl on in pursuit of the mysterious door.   
After a few more minutes of being quietly on the move, Zana stopped suddenly and made weird hand motions at Shir, but the Mirialan understood it with ease. The two then crouched low and made wide circles with their hands as they reached out with the force, and to the Jedi’s surprise, the bricks in front of them began to move and when the dust parted, a cracked stone doorway appeared.   
Rey’s mouth dropped open as the woman used the force to pull the door open, and what laid behind was something she could have never expected.   
It was pitch-black nothingness, but it wasn’t just any darkness. It was the type of black fog that went on for miles and almost seemed dense with its own emptiness. But it was far from empty. She could sense living beings that lurked in the shadows, waiting for the opportunity to pounce.   
“Hid beneath our noises darkness did,” Yoda said with a shake of his head.   
“This tunnel will lead us below the temple, but we must be careful. There are caverns everywhere your turn, so one misstep and your gone,” Zana said darkly, and her words almost seemed to set a weight upon Rey’s chest. But it probably wasn’t her words doing that, however ominous they were. The air was most likely filled with toxins that were unhealthy to breath in for too long.  
Zana and Shir confidently walked on through the doorway and into the heavy darkness that awaited them like a beast preying on it’s next meal.   
How were they so fearless?   
Rey gulped down her fear and followed after them.   
Everything was cold, so cold. Her feet dragged along slowly in front of her as she fought with the icy fog over her brain in order to reach out with the force and find the path in front of her, but the toxic density in the air seemed to drain all logical thoughts from her mind.  
“Snap out of it!” Shir whispered frantically. “The air, it’s filled with dark magic of the Sith. It is supposed to make you feel drowsy and as soon as you close your eyes - you’re dead.”   
This made Rey snap her eyes open wide, and she shook the sleepiness from herself forcefully.   
“The air also causes your inability to think straight. If you aren’t very used to it, you could easily loose your sanity and fall to your death,” Zana then added as if what Shir said wasn’t scary enough.   
“So how do I fight it?”   
“Keep your mind sharp. Don’t let it control you,” Zana said with heavy warning in her tone.  
How many times had the two woman been through this horrible place?   
Rey took a deep breath and calmed her mind in order to see the path through all the pitch black.   
Yoda and Mace seemed to be unfazed by the gas. Why was she the only one effected? It was almost as if she was the only one that was inexperienced there.   
For the rest of the hike, silence hung in the air for what seemed like hours as they stumbled down steep rocky pathways in the dark, and Rey had the feeling she would never see the sun again. Her very body craved to see a speck of light, but instead, her lungs filled with midnight fog that was slowly choking the life out of her with every step she took.   
When it seemed she couldn’t take another step, she felt Zana stop abruptly in front of her.   
“Something is following us,” she said quietly. Rey could barely sense what she was talking about because she was so focused on her own internal struggles, but now alerted of it, she could feel it. Eyes burning in the back of her head. A suffocating presence of darkness that challenged the pitch black around them. A Sith.   
“Here, Dooku is,” Yoda muttered.   
“He is in the temple! How did he figure it out so quickly?!”   
For the first time since Rey had met her, Shir Shenuri was afraid, but she had a feeling it wasn’t directly because of Dooku.  
“Because he knows. Sidious knows everything,” Zana said with deadly precision to her words that rivaled her typical dark, monotonous voice. “We must keep going. There is no turning back now.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took me so long to update! School is ramping up before exams, so I’m not sure when my next update will be. Hopefully next weekend I will have one up, but there are no promises.


	18. Update - PLEASE READ

Okay, so I haven’t been very active lately as you probably know. Super sorry about that. I DO NOT plan on discontinuing this, though! I am just in a spot of my life and am trying to find myself and what makes me happy. Writing is so good for me and makes me happy, but I really just need some time from posting, especially on a schedule. I might occasionally post if I really feel like writing, but currently, I have been just writing for my own enjoyment and need a break from the stress of posting every week. I’m not sure when I’ll have another chapter up, but hopefully, the next time I update, I will be feeling better. :))) thanks for all of you guys amazing comments!


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